Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Piper Parrish's life on Frick Island—a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay—is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom's crab boat capsized and his body wasn't recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing: carried on as if her husband was not only still alive, but right there beside her, cooking him breakfast, walking him to the docks each morning, meeting him for their standard Friday night dinner date at the One-Eyed Crab. And what were the townspeople to do but go along with their beloved widowed Piper?

Anders Caldwell’s career is not going well. A young ambitious journalist, he’d rather hoped he’d be a national award-winning podcaster by now, rather than writing fluff pieces for a small town newspaper. But when he gets an assignment to travel to the remote Frick Island and cover their boring annual Cake Walk fundraiser, he stumbles upon a much more fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist. Determined it’s the career-making story he’s been needing for his podcast, Anders returns to the island to begin covert research and spend more time with the enigmatic Piper—but he has no idea out of all the lives he’s about to upend, it’s his that will change the most.

Review:

I've been reading quite a few books about loss lately.  Even though I believe most of these were written prior to the pandemic, the theme of loss will probably resonate with readers more profoundly now.  The Invisible Husband of Frick Island, by Colleen Oakley, deals with a young widow and how she copes with her grief.  The book goes for a lighter touch than most books about loss.  This is a strength, but also a small detriment.  I didn't connect with the characters as much.  But overall, this was a lovely book about small towns, loss, and moving on.

What I Liked:

Setting:

I love a book about a small town!  The people of Frick island are stubbornly stuck in their ways.  With fishermen yielding dwindling catches of fish, and fewer tourists visiting the island, it's easy to imagine that this village may not be around in a few years.  But the townspeople refuse to face reality.  They fear that a slick real estate agent will swoop in and ruin the island with mega hotel developments.

The fictional island is also just the sort of place where everyone knows you, along with all your successes and failings.  When Piper loses her husband, the whole town rallies behind her, so much so that Piper feats she won't mourn enough to satisfy the other islanders.  This pressure causes her to do some rather strange things.

Characters:

Anders is a reporter from a small mainland newspaper (do they still have those?) who decides to write a story about how climate change will affect Frick Island.  His angle?  Get the islanders to tell him about how it will impact their lives.  But Anders soon learns that this is such a tight-knit community, no one will speak with him.  The townspeople have seen the likes of him before.  But, Anders will not be deterred.  I liked Anders determination to earn the respect of the locals by spending time on the island.  He learns about their fishing industry, tourism, and environmental issues, eventually earning their trust.

I really like Piper.  While she is as stubborn as the other townspeople regarding keeping life the same on the island, I can see her motivation.  This is a place where she is loved and accepted by the town, while her only relative, her mom, leaves her for a live of adventure in Australia.  Of course she would want to keep everything the same.  Also, considering she was just twenty years old, she didn't really know how to move on.  She thought her life was all settled.  Starting over is going to be scary.

Themes:

Besides the obvious theme of bereavement , the novel also shows how people are afraid of change.  Anders begins the novel clinging to the idea a old-style journalism.  He wants to write long, investigative pieces about important issues.  But he also finds that new outlets such as podcasts can be a perfect format to delve deep into a subject.  The townspeople are so afraid of change that they refuse to make any changes to modernize their island, to the point that there is no cell phone reception or internet.  But cutting themselves off from the rest of the world doesn't stop changes from happening.   I like that the book finds a balance to between showing that some of these fears of change are well-founded, but also shows that the characters can shape some changes to better fit with their goals.

What I Was Mixed About:

Anders:

With the whole town pretending that Tom, Piper's husband, is alive, Anders decides this will be the perfect subject for a limited series podcast on grief.  He reasons that, since there is no internet on Frick Island, none of the townspeople will ever listen to it.  I found this to be quite shady and dishonest.  He basically does a whole podcast on Piper's grief, and possible mental breakdown, for entertainment.  No thank you.

Tone:

While I like the lighter tone of the book, I also found it harder to connect with the characters.  Anders can almost be seen as comic relief as he tries to earn the respect of Piper and the islanders.  But, given that Piper is showing signs of a serious mental break from reality, but acting as if her husband is still alive, I wish that Anders would have been more careful with Piper's feelings.  He must have known that if Piper found out that people on the mainland were following her story, it could have caused serious harm to her mental health.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  May 25th, 2021

Author:  Colleen Oakley

Publisher:  Berkley Press

Genre:  Literary Fiction

Page Length: 368 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:   If you like quirky characters and a small town setting, this book will hit the mark.