Book Summary and Reviews of Welcome to Beach Town by Susan Wiggs

Book Summary

Beloved New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs returns with a compulsively readable tale of an idyllic California beach town forced to reckon with scandal when a high school valedictorian's speech reveals secrets that shake the town to its core.

Every town has its secrets...

In idyllic Alara Cove, a California beach town known for its sunny charm and chill surfer vibe, it's graduation day at the elite Thornton Academy. At Thornton, the students are the worldly and overindulged children who live in gated enclaves with spectacular views. But the class valedictorian is Nikki Graziola, a surfer's daughter who is there on scholarship. To the shock of everyone in the audience, Nikki veers off script while giving her commencement address and reveals a secret that breaks open the whole community. As her truth explodes into the light, Alara Cove will face a reckoning.

Nikki Graziola's accusation shakes the foundation of Alara Cove, pitting her against the wealthy family whose money runs the town. Her new notoriety sends Nikki into exile for years, where she finds fame—but not fortune—overseas as a competition surfer...until a personal tragedy compels her to return to Alara Cove.

As Nikki struggles to rebuild her future, she finds that the people of the town have not forgotten her. But time has changed Alara Cove, and old friendships, rivalries, and an unexpected romance draw her back into the life of the beach town she's never quite forgotten, and where joy and redemption may be possible after all.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Why do you think Susan Wiggs chose these words from Plato as the book's epigraph: "They deem him their worst enemy who tells them the truth"? Does this line ring true to you?
2. At the Thornton Academy orientation, Nikki hears the headmaster's welcoming speech as "we are all equal here, blah blah blah" and thinks "Yeah, right." Why is she skeptical? How does inequality play out at Thornton? What does inequality look like in Nikki's hometown of Alara Cove?
3. What did you make of Nikki's father, Guy Graziola? What effect—good and bad—did his parenting style have on Nikki? How did it shape the teenager she was when we first meet her and the woman she became later in the book?
4. Cal tells Nikki that her ...