Just yesterday, I finished reading Summer People by Elin Hilderbrand. I picked it up at the Library Book Sale at the beginning of the summer, and reading it now when it’s cold out is slightly jarring. However, the story ends in the cold weather, so that part fit in better with the weather outside. “Every summer the Newton family retreats to their beloved home on Nantucket for three months of sunshine, cookouts, and bonfires on the beach. But this summer will not be like any other. When Arch Newton, a prominent New York attorney, dies in a plane crash on his way home from a business trip, his beautiful widow, Beth, can barely keep things together. Above all, though, she decides that she must continue the family tradition of going to Nantucket, and at the same time fulfill a promise that Arch made before he died. Beth invites Marcus, the son of Arch’s final and most challenging client, to spend the summer with her and her teenage twins, Winnie and Garrett, who have mixed reactions to sharing their special summer place with this stranger. Always a place of peace before, Nantucket becomes the scene of roiling emotions and turbulent passions as Marcus, Winnie, and Garrett learn about loss, first love, and betrayal. And when they stumble upon a shocking secret from Beth’s past, they must keep it from destroying the family they’ve been trying so hard to heal.” I really enjoyed the various relationships explored in this book. Beth’s marriage wasn’t fully explored because of the death of her husband before the start of the book, but she is faced with her boyfriend from twenty years earlier – and to make matters more complicated, her son and his daughter begin dating. The twins and their mom have a complicated relationship as well, made more complicated by the guest their father invited before he died. I enjoyed reading the story from the viewpoints of the teenagers as well as that of their mother. Overall, the story is a sad one, but with the undertone of hope that the characters all share by the end of the book.
Have you read anything good lately?