Beaches

A Novel

By: Iris Rainer Dart

Narrated by: Iris Rainer Dart

Loudmouthed, redheaded Cee Cee Bloom has her sights set on Hollywood. Quiet and conservative Bertie White dreams of getting married and having children. In 1951, their childhood worlds collide in Atlantic City. Keeping in touch as pen pals, they reunite over the years—always near the ocean.

Read by the author, this powerful and moving novel follows Cee Cee and Bertie's extraordinary and unlikely friendship over thirty years as they evolve from adolescents into adults. A bestselling novel that became a hugely successful film, Beaches is funny, warm, heartbreaking tale.

©1990 Iris Rainer Dart (P)1990 Phoenix Books, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A touching story of the friendship between two very different women. Cee Cee Bloom, with her loud mouth, loud personality and flaming red hair, is determined to become a Hollywood star. Bertie White, delicate and conservative, hopes for a loving husband and family. They meet as children in 1951 in Atlantic City, and, as pen pals, keep in touch with each other. Their reunions through the years always occur at or near the beach, whether in Sarasota, Malibu or Hawaii. Their story jumps back and forth between past and present. Cee Cee and Bertie are genuine, and readers will like them and understand why they are friends." (School Library Journal)

What a Read and a Reread!

I applaud Mrs. Dart of making this book for being what it is. A + Lister of performance,. This book, performed by the author herself, she has wonderfully done this book well. as well as Bette and Barbra did well. I insist that you get I'll be there the sequel to this book. Even better.

Sound Quality

I really enjoyed the book. The author does a wonderful job reading her work, however the sound quality is terrible.

Story is great, quality is terrible

Would you listen to Beaches again? Why?

The audio quality is terrible. I could have done better at my house.

What did you like best about this story?

It's a great story and it's well told about friends.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Iris Rainer Dart?

I don't know. She was ok but she talked really really fast.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. It was quite fast.

Fantastic narration 🏆

Audible narrator is author Iris Rainer Dart. She does a wonderful job acting out the characters. Taking me back to the movie release. “It’s like turning on the television when she walks in the door” ~ Bertie’s view of CeeCee. Many laughable moments. Ride along with tears.

Tackled book one to prep for #2 recently learned about. In fact, didn’t know Beaches was a book until a few days ago, either. It’s flows like a short story requiring a few hours. Makes for a fun listen.

If you’re shopping for a wonderful story about best friends this could be the book for you. If you struggle with loss this might trigger deep feelings. Even so, will walk away feeling happier having read this classic.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💯

Cried So Hard at the end

This was such an amazingly written story of friendship from beginning to end. I couldnt hold myself together at end.

The movie is so much better than the book

The author does a fine job narrating her work, but my goodness the movie adaptation is vastly superior to its source material. The film’s characters are far more nuanced, deep, and likable than their book counterparts. Having loved the movie so much growing up, I was curious about the book and was honestly shocked by how different and inferior it was.

Lovely friendship

I loved the friendship between these two characters. Over a lifetime of friendship and in the end they cared for each other til the end.

Abridged Version Is Abridged

Since this is a three hour rendition of the novel, it was obviously abridged. It should be labeled as such. Almost half the story isn't here, and the audio quality is terrible! The author gives an adequate performance, but the sound level is wildly inconsistent (it's extremely obvious when chunks have been cut) and frequently have static, buzzing or other interference - or is so muffled it sounds like your speaker is under a pile of laundry. Terrible version of a really good novel. Get it in paperback and read the whole thing instead.