Willa Bennett’s husband Ben died a few years ago and she’s still recovering from it. She’s even grown a bit detached from her young adult son, Jamie. Now, it’s time for Willa to return to their family beach house in Ocean City, Maryland where Ben died so she can put it up for sale and finally move on.
Except when Willa arrives at the beach house, she sees Ben’s ghost everywhere. First, as a young boy, then as a teenager, and finally, Ben as she knew him before he died.
Thinking she might be going insane, Willa invites her best friend Kristin and Kristin’s daughter Kelsey to the beach house, and demands that Jamie come as well. Willa doesn’t realize at first that this final trip is exactly what everyone needs for healing to take place, and to gain that much-needed fresh start.
Beth Harbison dedicates this novel to her husband, who passed away in 2013. This one was published in 2018, but she could have started writing it earlier. I couldn’t help but think about that as I read this book. It was so sad.
Every Time You Go Away is incredibly sweet, but it lacks depth—it just goes too fast and doesn’t spend enough time under the surface. I felt like we were being told what the characters felt, instead of shown. It was one of those scenarios.
My eyes teared up several times while reading this one, so maybe hold off for a bit if you’re feeling extra weepy and sensitive. The first time I teared up was when Willa mentions how Ben’s death doesn’t feel quite real, and how she feels sure he’s going to pick up the phone when she calls him, even though he’s dead.
My favorite thing about Every Time You Go Away was the hint of a future between Jamie and Kelsey. What if they end up living and growing old in the family beach house, and continuing the family legacy? I hope that’s what happens to them in their fictional universe.
I featured Beth Harbison in this old post about the Best-Ever Chick Lit Authors, because she used to be one of my favorites.
I also reviewed these titles for this website:
- Shoe Addicts Anonymous (2007)
- Secrets of a Shoe Addict (2008)
- Thin, Rich, Pretty (2010)
- Always Something There to Remind Me (2011)
What’s your favorite book by Beth Harbison?
Last Updated on March 6, 2026 by Sarah Ann
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