The happiest day in Erin Bryce's live is the day that she and her friend Sharlene start their wedding planning business, The Happiest Day. But Erin's happiness quickly disintegrates when Erin's father suffers a stroke. Erin flies from LA to the coast of Oregon for a few days, a few days extend indefinitely as she decides to spend what may be her father's last days in Oregon at the cottage by the sea that was bought and renovated by her father and his difficult wife, Delores.

Dealing with the responsibility of being a caregiver to one's aging parents is no easy feat. Robin Jones Gunn capture the joys and agonies that come with the role in as much vivid detail as she depicts the little coastal cottage, the small Oregon town and its colorful inhabitants. Erin's emotions realistically ping pong from one end of the spectrum to the other, hitting everything in between, as she grapples with honoring her father, respecting his wife and preparing for a possible end that she didn't see coming. Gunn makes it impossible for readers not to empathize with Erin and her trials and to root for her as she draws from a wellspring of strength she doesn't realize she has.

Each chapter begins with a verse of an Irish blessing. I often find this technique annoying, one that jars me out of the story, but not here. The verses were so well chosen. They each speak to the emotions that are present at that point in the story and that readers are likely to be experiencing right along with Erin and her family. As Erin seeks wisdom from memories and the journals of her deceased mother, I found myself jotting down passages for future reference. COTTAGE BY THE SEA was as much a primer for coming to terms with impending death as it was a book about one woman's journey to heal herself and her family in the process. COTTAGE BY THE SEA is a provocative, endearing read.