Harriet Beamer Strikes Gold by Joyce Magnin

This is the second novel about Harriet Beamer, aged 72. She's made the move from the east coast to California to live with her son and daughter-in-law. It's been a few months but she is just not settled. She misses her good friend Martha and she hasn't made any friends here. Her son's church is all young people. There is no room to put out her salt and pepper shaker collection. And she doesn't have a car, just her Vespa. At least she does have her donut loving basset hound.

Adventure comes to Harriet as she meets a young girl in a restaurant. A young girl who has a scraggly father who has a gold mine to lease. Harriet falls for the scheme, thinking it will provide some extra income to help with the addition her son is building on the house, and who knows what else? While she does have some second thoughts, she hands over cash.

This is definitely a novel for older readers, at least Harriet's age. The action is slow and methodical. The issues Harriet faces will be of interest only to older readers. For me, the action was too predictable and the dialog too common place. There is a little bit of humor here and there, but, in general, the dialog is unremarkable.

The strength of this novel is the lesson Harriet learns, where her real gold lies. There is a great deal of compassion shown by Harriet and her friend Martha. It was refreshing to read about the elderly wanting to help a teen girl whose father was a crook.

A good book for elderly readers. Watch a book trailer here.

Joyce Magnin is the author of five novels, including the Bright's Pond Series. She is a frequent conference speaker and writing instructor. She lives in Pennsylvania with her son and their crazy cat.

Zondervan, 312 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.