Bad Summer People
A Novel
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3.8 • 513 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Emma Rosenblum's Bad Summer People is a whip-smart, propulsive debut about infidelity, backstabbing, and murderous intrigue, set against an exclusive summer haven on Fire Island.
"This roiling beach community satire serves up wicked, clever fun that is White Lotus sharp." —Kevin Kwan, New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians and Sex and Vanity
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF SUMMER 2023: Bustle, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, PopSugar, Bloomberg, Vogue, and more!
None of them would claim to be a particularly good person. But who among them is actually capable of murder?
Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he’s the tennis pro—or someone else’s husband. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other.
Until a body is discovered, face down, off the side of the boardwalk.
Stylish, subversive, and darkly comedic, this is a story of what's lurking under the surface of picture-perfect lives in a place where everyone has something to hide.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We tore through this story of scandal and murder on the beach. As the usual upper-class crowd settles in for another summer on New York’s Fire Island, tension seethes just below the surface. Trapped in a loveless marriage with queen bee Lauren, financier Jason is having an affair with psychologist Jen, who happens to be married to Sam, Jason’s alleged best friend. Meanwhile, Sam battles a false accusation of sexual harassment at his white-shoe law firm, while Lauren flirts with the handsome, social-climbing tennis pro. Through it all, lonely, desperate singleton Rachel stirs up drinks, gossip, and trouble. Debut author Emma Rosenblum cleverly shifts the story’s points of view between the people who orbit around her main characters, including the sulky child who discovers a body on the beach. Gleefully soapy and wickedly tart, this is the perfect vacation read.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Rosenblum's scintillating debut, liars, cheaters, and scoundrels converge on Fire Island for the summer, where a series of shake-ups to the seasonal routine culminates in the discovery of a dead body. A prologue features eight-year-old Danny Leavitt's discovery of the body, which Rosenblum doesn't identify or describe until the end, but which Danny excitedly takes to be a murder victim. The reader is then treated to colorful portraits of the cliquish seasonal community members without knowing which one will die. Rosenblum starts with broad strokes before really digging in to the various players, noting how the "men measured themselves by their net worth and women by their tennis games." Rachel Woolf, 42, is the reigning gossip queen; Danny's mother is a "B-lister"; lawyer Sam Weinstein and private equity investor Jason Parker, both married, continue a bitter rivalry over Sam's wife, Jen, whom Jason dated first. Every island event—from Fourth of July to the Bay Picnic—is overseen by a 73-year-old curmudgeonly widow, Susan Steinhagen. Rosenblum does a terrific job of establishing the setting and atmosphere, and adds complexity to the plot by revisiting events from various points of view. This is wickedly entertaining.
Customer Reviews
Perfectly delicious for summer
A fun look inside what people are hiding, no matter how careful they may be. Villains to love-to-hate
Hooked
This is like the desperate housewives of the Hamptons…definitely a trashier read than I expected but I loved every minute of it.
Good Summer Read
A bunch of wealthy people with too much time on their hands. Fake friends, gossiping adults and a bunch of mischievous behavior. Kept me interested. Give it a try.