The Book of Summer
A Novel
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- €10.99
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- €10.99
Publisher Description
“Michelle Gable has moved in on [Elin] Hilderbrand’s home turf with a humorous and smartly written story of two generations of love and vacations.” —Wall Street Journal
From New York Times bestselling author of A Paris Apartment comes a novel about summer in Nantucket and a guestbook that reveals family secrets.
The ocean, the wild roses on the dunes and the stunning Cliff House, perched atop a bluff in Sconset, Nantucket. Inside the faded pages of the Cliff House guest book live the spellbinding stories of its female inhabitants: from Ruby, a bright-eyed newlywed on the eve of World War II to her granddaughter Bess, who returns to the beautiful summer estate.
For the first time in four years, physician Bess Codman visits the compound her great-grandparents built almost a century before, but due to erosion, the once-grand home will soon fall into the sea. Bess must now put aside her complicated memories in order to pack up the house and deal with her mother, a notorious town rabble-rouser, who refuses to leave. It’s not just memories of her family home Bess must face though, but also an old love that might hold new possibilities.
In the midst of packing Bess rediscovers the forgotten family guest book. Bess’s grandmother and primary keeper of the book, Ruby, always said Cliff House was a house of women, and by the very last day of the very last summer at Cliff House, Bess will understand the truth of her grandmother’s words in ways she never imagined.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gable weaves a tale of generations of women who have come back to the comfort of their home in Sconset, Nantucket, time and time again. On the cusp of a difficult divorce, physician Bess Codman returns to Sconset to visit her mother, Cissy, at Cliff House, their family home on the bluff overlooking the sea. While Cissy is determined to get local government to approve erosion prevention methods. Bess struggles with her impending divorce, unplanned pregnancy, and newly awakened feelings for her high school boyfriend, Evan Mahew. Interspersed with present-day events are the musings of the past from the Book of Summer, a book started by Sarah Young, one of the first residents of Cliff House in 1914. She asked family and friends alike to memorialize their stay at the summer home with pictures or tales of their visit. Entries in the book are highlighted throughout the novel, revealing the difficulties faced by other residents, most notably Bess's beloved grandmother Ruby, who lived in the home during World War II. Gable cleverly illuminates the past, revealing how it mirrors the present. This is a splendid multigenerational novel about the strength of the women of Cliff House. 100,000-copy announced first printing.
