Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close

The novel is set in a family-run restaurant called Sullivan’s and is told from the vantage point of three different grandchildren--Teddy, Jane, and Gretchen-- to restaurant owner Bud Sullivan, who dies at the outset of the book. They have each left the family business, gone out on their own, had failed relationships and careers, and come back to the restaurant. Their stories are engaging, if occasionally annoying, and they move forward even when it is hard to do so. The tone is set by the title--which is explained as the practice of upending one partially emptied ketchup bottle onto another so as to fill one of them. No longer done, but that is the lightness that flows through the book. It is both humorous and sad, playful yet touching, and should be the sort of easy read that might be best enjoyed at the beach on a warm, summer day.