The Saddest Girl on the Beach by Heather Frese

The Saddest Girl on the Beach is a beautifully layered story of loss and grief, connection and friendship. The novel follows Charlotte, the imperfect protagonist, to the North Carolina coast after the death of her father. Throughout this story, Frese has delicately woven the imagery of the sea, the comfort of the home of dear family friends, and a love triangle in a way that never feels overprocessed. At first it seems like an easy summer read but quickly becomes complicated and more nuanced.

The novel is a wonderful read with such accurate descriptions of the Outer Banks that you feel as if you’re there with the smell of the saltwater hovering around you. Place is so much a part of the story that it is almost a character. The first setting is the family-owned inn that is typical of every beachside tourist community. It becomes the safety net that Charlotte needs through her grief. The sea, the sound, the lighthouse, and the ferries all play major roles as well.

Part of the success of the writing is the incorporation of bits of descriptions from a nature book on beaches into the narrative. Charlotte and Michael grow closer through their shared love of the sea. They text each other quotes from this book to share how they are feeling without having to come up with words of their own. The quotes have double meanings: “Rogue waves are spectacular and dangerous waves. As wave trains travel across the ocean from various storms, they frequently meet each other. When this happens, the waves will either cancel each other out or reinforce each other” (90). The scientific style of the text is soothing and becomes another path that helps Charlotte move through her mourning.

Frese has so masterfully crafted Charlotte’s grief that it’s almost palpable. What at first feels like a story about returning home later reveals an exploration of a deep pain that is not often spoken about by those living through a period of mourning. Charlotte goes through the motions of participating in the world around her as a way to escape from the devastating loss. To support her, she has the place she first fell in love with as a child.

The novel also explores the dynamics of friendship between a local and a tourist with Charlotte and her best friend, Evie. Their relationship has withstood the years and distance, but both learn to not take each other for granted. They can push boundaries but always remain close. Evie says, “‘I do have to [handle it], and that’s just how it is. And you can either support me on that or go home’” (89). Charlotte thinks, “Go home. I couldn’t even remember what home felt like […] living in a world without my father. I needed to be here. I needed Hatteras to be home” (89). She then tells Evie how important she is to her. They are learning to navigate the new developments in their friendship as they both experience major life changes.

The Saddest Girl on the Beach is a companion to Frese’s earlier novel, The Baddest Girl on the Planet (2021). Frese’s latest novel deftly explores Charlotte’s grief through the many layers of landscape and challenges of friendship and family.

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Dr. Beth Nardella is an Associate Professor in the School of Medicine at West Virginia University. She has been teaching discipline-specific science writing for nearly twenty years in the Division of Exercise Physiology. Her research focuses on power and resistance dynamics in Appalachia. Her most recent project investigated why people stay in West Virginia. Beth’s passion in teaching is study abroad and its intersection with rural health.