Status
Checked out
Due 2024-06-19
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Atria Books (2022), 432 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. HTML:INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTELLER From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of That Summer comes another heartfelt and unputdownable novel of family, secrets, and the ties that bind. When her twenty-two-year-old stepdaughter announces her engagement to her pandemic boyfriend, Sarah Danhauser is shocked. But the wheels are in motion. Headstrong Ruby has already set a date (just three months away!) and spoken to her beloved safta, Sarah's mother Veronica, about having the wedding at the family's beach house in Cape Cod. Sarah might be worried, but Veronica is thrilled to be bringing the family together one last time before putting the big house on the market. But the road to a wedding day usually comes with a few bumps. Ruby has always known exactly what she wants, but as the wedding date approaches, she finds herself grappling with the wounds left by the mother who walked out when she was a baby. Veronica ends up facing unexpected news, thanks to her meddling sister, and must revisit the choices she made long ago, when she was a bestselling novelist with a different life. Sarah's twin brother, Sam, is recovering from a terrible loss, and confronting big questions about who he is�??questions he hopes to resolve during his stay on the Cape. Sarah's husband, Eli, who's been inexplicably distant during the pandemic, confronts the consequences of a long ago lapse from his typical good-guy behavior. And Sarah, frustrated by her husband, concerned about her stepdaughter, and worn out by challenges of life during quarantine, faces the alluring reappearance of someone from her past and a life that could have been. When the wedding day arrives, lovers are revealed as their true selves, misunderstandings take on a life of their own, and secrets come to light. There are confrontations and revelations that will touch each member of the extended family, ensuring that nothing will ever be the same. From "the undisputed boss of the beach read" (The New York Times), The Summer Place is a testament to family in all its messy glory; a story about what we sacrifice and how we forgive. Enthralling, witty, big-hearted, and sharply observed, this is Jennifer Weiner's love letter to the Outer Cape and the power of home, the way our lives are enriched by the people we call family, and the endless ways love can surprise… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Cats57
This is a gloriously typical beach read sure to entertain fans of authors like Mary Kay Andrews (with a lot more spice), Kristen Higgins, or Susan Mallery. It has a little more hanky-panky (very descriptive) than I like, but the rest of the book is just filled with enough angst, affairs, family
Intrigue, the questioning of sexuality, the wokeness, possible incest (or not!), father/or not father. Oh my, I could just keep going on, and that is just the first half of the book!
The last part of this book starts with more adultery, questioning of parenthood, and wedding plans. Then even more adultery.
It is interesting that the author chose to make the pandemic and its aftermath part of the story and to blame a few of the family problems on it.
This book has mostly exceptionally long chapters, which is a bit of a problem for someone like me who just has to read to the end of a chapter before doing anything else!
You might be asking yourself why I didn't give this book a better rating when so many other early reviewers loved it, the fact is that I saw this book for what it was (but this is only MY opinion) and I felt that what it was was a bunch of people that couldn't keep their reproductive organs in their pants. Okay, so some of them weren't lying; they just were volunteering the entire truths!!!
It wasn't a horrible book and as I said it will make someone with a different outlook on life than mine, a wonderful beach read.
Show More
secrets, lies, and illness to make a beach-read lover swoon.Intrigue, the questioning of sexuality, the wokeness, possible incest (or not!), father/or not father. Oh my, I could just keep going on, and that is just the first half of the book!
The last part of this book starts with more adultery, questioning of parenthood, and wedding plans. Then even more adultery.
It is interesting that the author chose to make the pandemic and its aftermath part of the story and to blame a few of the family problems on it.
This book has mostly exceptionally long chapters, which is a bit of a problem for someone like me who just has to read to the end of a chapter before doing anything else!
You might be asking yourself why I didn't give this book a better rating when so many other early reviewers loved it, the fact is that I saw this book for what it was (but this is only MY opinion) and I felt that what it was was a bunch of people that couldn't keep their reproductive organs in their pants. Okay, so some of them weren't lying; they just were volunteering the entire truths!!!
It wasn't a horrible book and as I said it will make someone with a different outlook on life than mine, a wonderful beach read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member nancyadair
Written during COVID, Jennifer Weiner wanted her new novel The Summer Place to be “a fun, lighthearted book,” a family drama “somewhere between a Noel Coward farce and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” When I read this in the Acknowledgments, I had a totally different reaction to the novel. It
Not my kind of novel at all, I was thinking. I had read Weiner’s last three novels and each had some issue that was explored through the characters. While reading, I puzzled over what the ‘point’ of this novel was. There was a whole lotta sex going on. A whole lotta secrets that were alienating people from those they most loved. There was a not quite believable resolution. Why did I read this novel?
Then I read the Acknowledgment statement.
Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream takes place before a marriage. By accident, lovers are realigned with very wrong pairings. And looking at The Summer Place this way, as a comedy about human frailty and the power of sexual attraction, how we all err and all need to seek forgiveness and forgive, is a gamechanger.
The pandemic impacted the romance between college students Ruby and Gabe. Gabe is drop-dead gorgeous, and bi, called an ‘angel’ by all who see him. Ruby has lusted after him for years and was thrilled when they finally hooked up. She intends to keep him, sure she will never have another chance like this. When Covid strikes, her parents want her living at home and not in the dorm. Ruby is unwilling to give up Gabe and asks if he can come with her. Her parents allow it.
Ruby’s dad Eli raised her after his first wife left, unhappy with the suburban mom lifestyle she never wanted. Years later, Ruby’s music teacher Sarah and Eli married.
When Ruby proposes to Gabe, her mother is afraid this pandemic romance won’t last, but knows to oppose it will only propel headstrong Ruby into eloping. Her dad’s reaction is quite different: he retreats into himself, distracted and shut down. His behavior harms his marriage, leaving his wife unhappy and open to romancing.
Secrets abound.
Ruby’s grandmother was a novelist who left publishing. She has her secrets, health related and past romance related that casts a shadow on the paternity of her twin children. Ruby’s uncle lost his beloved wife and now is secretly exploring his sexuality. Sarah lost her first love and gave up a career as a concert pianist. Then, there’s Gabe’s single mom who long ago solved an unwanted pregnancy through seduction and lies.
The Summer Place is the Cape Code family cottage, which oddly has a voice in several chapters, a device that didn’t work for me. The house has seen a lot over the years, knows all the history and heartbreak. The grandmother had hoped it would be filled with children and grandchildren, but instead it has been empty every year but for a few days. She intends to sell it. The house is fighting for it’s legacy and future.
Weiner’s books are promoted as perfect ‘beach reads,’ and many will find this book fits the bill. Just don’t take it too seriously. It wasn’t meant to be highbrow. It’s a book to entertain.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
Show More
is so over-the-top with its twisted relationships and mispairings of lovers! When a character realizes his true sexual orientation thru sexy fan fiction, I burst into laughing for several minutes. Chapters alternated characters, revealing their bad choices, their inability to control their sexual responses to the wrong people.Not my kind of novel at all, I was thinking. I had read Weiner’s last three novels and each had some issue that was explored through the characters. While reading, I puzzled over what the ‘point’ of this novel was. There was a whole lotta sex going on. A whole lotta secrets that were alienating people from those they most loved. There was a not quite believable resolution. Why did I read this novel?
Then I read the Acknowledgment statement.
Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream takes place before a marriage. By accident, lovers are realigned with very wrong pairings. And looking at The Summer Place this way, as a comedy about human frailty and the power of sexual attraction, how we all err and all need to seek forgiveness and forgive, is a gamechanger.
The pandemic impacted the romance between college students Ruby and Gabe. Gabe is drop-dead gorgeous, and bi, called an ‘angel’ by all who see him. Ruby has lusted after him for years and was thrilled when they finally hooked up. She intends to keep him, sure she will never have another chance like this. When Covid strikes, her parents want her living at home and not in the dorm. Ruby is unwilling to give up Gabe and asks if he can come with her. Her parents allow it.
Ruby’s dad Eli raised her after his first wife left, unhappy with the suburban mom lifestyle she never wanted. Years later, Ruby’s music teacher Sarah and Eli married.
When Ruby proposes to Gabe, her mother is afraid this pandemic romance won’t last, but knows to oppose it will only propel headstrong Ruby into eloping. Her dad’s reaction is quite different: he retreats into himself, distracted and shut down. His behavior harms his marriage, leaving his wife unhappy and open to romancing.
Secrets abound.
Ruby’s grandmother was a novelist who left publishing. She has her secrets, health related and past romance related that casts a shadow on the paternity of her twin children. Ruby’s uncle lost his beloved wife and now is secretly exploring his sexuality. Sarah lost her first love and gave up a career as a concert pianist. Then, there’s Gabe’s single mom who long ago solved an unwanted pregnancy through seduction and lies.
The Summer Place is the Cape Code family cottage, which oddly has a voice in several chapters, a device that didn’t work for me. The house has seen a lot over the years, knows all the history and heartbreak. The grandmother had hoped it would be filled with children and grandchildren, but instead it has been empty every year but for a few days. She intends to sell it. The house is fighting for it’s legacy and future.
Weiner’s books are promoted as perfect ‘beach reads,’ and many will find this book fits the bill. Just don’t take it too seriously. It wasn’t meant to be highbrow. It’s a book to entertain.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
Show Less
LibraryThing member kimkimkim
In the acknowledgements Jennifer Weiner states that the vibe she was going for was “between a Noel Coward farce and a Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Clever except for the heart-stopping, constant worry of how it was all going to play out and where was Puck when I needed the sarcasm and humor.
This
Thank you NetGalley and Atria / Simon & Schuster for a copy.
This
Show More
story needed either a flow or a genealogical chart. There were so many characters who were interconnected, over and under and before and after. Who was with whom ? When and where and how and a whole lot of sex going on and most of it causing more trouble than the players could ever have imagined. Weiner tags her stereotypes well - she really gets her characters and defines them with a deft stroke. The chapters devoted to each character was so well played. The life she blew into that magical Cape House was nothing short of inspired. Well done, well plotted, maybe a bit heavy on the lascivious scenes but it all gets tied into a fairly neat package.Thank you NetGalley and Atria / Simon & Schuster for a copy.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bearette24
Jennifer Weiner seems to have switched to summer sagas set on the Cape, and she does them well. Here, we have an extended family with many juicy secrets that boil over by the end. A lot of the plot hinges on unlikely coincidence, but it's entertaining anyway.
LibraryThing member Gingersnap000
This novel should become a best seller for the Summer of 2022. It involves so many secrets, affairs and explicit sex...after Fifty Shades of Grey, authors love to write sex acts in detail along with smells. This book is not for the readers with a certain sensibility.
LibraryThing member ecataldi
A beachy read with lots of drama and forbidden romances. Told through a variety of viewpoints, this story centers on 22 year old, Ruby, and her upcoming wedding to her pandemic boyfriend, Gabe. Her stepmother is concerned that Ruby is rushing into it, but she is even more concerned that her husband
Show More
Eli, is having an affair or something dastardly- he has completely checked out of their marriage. Nearly every character is trying to hide something, and damn near half of them involve some sort of affair. I'm not a big fan of cheating which is why this book is only 4 stars instead of 5. Pretty much everything comes to light though and gets tied up so it works out. Show Less
LibraryThing member mchwest
The third book, not really a continuous series, but all set on beautiful Cape Cod. Once again an awesome summer read but what is really impressing me this year, as I read all the new publications, are the personal author notes at the closing of the books. These books were all written during the
Show More
pandemic, I'm happy none based them on the pandemic, but how differently they handled it. This authors note really delves into how they lived from day to day. How they survived and some endured losses. Thank you again Jennifer Weiner for such a great and endearing read. Show Less
LibraryThing member shazjhb
First world problems made this an extremely annoying book. The best people in the book were not the adults. Maybe Veronica gets a star. Everyone lived in great houses with excellent internet safely and struggled.
LibraryThing member bookczuk
Having read other books in this series, I picked this one up to see how it interwove with previous stories. They all co-mingle in my brain.
LibraryThing member steve02476
Not my usual kind of novel, and hard to rate. Honestly, it was well written, and it was “fun” to read, kind of in the sense that it’s fun to eat a Hostess Twinkie. But I don’t allow myself to eat Twinkies very often, though I’m not puritanical and I do eat them once in a while. But mostly
A little bit like one of those Shakespeare comedies where a bunch of couples get into a tangled mess but it all gets resolved surprisingly at the end. The “coincidences” mount up impossibly.
Much of the story takes place in a part of Cape Cod that I’m familiar with so that was appealing.
Show More
I don’t, because there’s only so much eating I’m going to do for the rest of my life, and I think I should generally eat more nourishing stuff. I guess the metaphor isn’t too good though, because Twinkies are actually unhealthy and this novel isn’t unhealthy — just conceivably a (fun) waste of time.A little bit like one of those Shakespeare comedies where a bunch of couples get into a tangled mess but it all gets resolved surprisingly at the end. The “coincidences” mount up impossibly.
Much of the story takes place in a part of Cape Cod that I’m familiar with so that was appealing.
Show Less
LibraryThing member shirfire218
This book was a thoroughly enjoyable, quick read for me. At 400 plus pages, I was amazed how fast those pages flew by, as I kept wanting to find out what happened next, or simply to wait for the other shoe to drop! It's a thoroughly modern take on the nineteenth century idiom: "Oh the tangled webs
The main location focus of the book is Cape Cod, and the family summer home and stomping grounds there are described in loving detail based on the author's own fond memories of having spent summers there. The matriarch of the family resides here in the ancestral summer home (mansion), and at last she has her wish--a reason for all of the extended family to gather around for summer fun and games. The reason is that her young step granddaughter is getting married there. And as we meet the bride, Ruby; and her family; we begin to learn of the twists and turns of their lives. They are all trying to navigate through a soap opera's worth of dilemmas and the pandemic, at the same time.
The house itself is a sentient being, and we learn of her emotions as well. To me that is the glue that binds it all together.
Through it all, we laugh and cry as we face the ups and downs, including downright tragedies of life and of the choices made by each character. We also learn what the most important thing is in the end, which we really did know all along--family.
Show More
we weave, when first we practice to deceive." Though we get that saying from the Scottish author, Sir Walter Scott; the author of The Summer Place says she wanted to create a story very loosely based on the idea of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". At any rate, we end up with a number of diverse characters whose backgrounds, and present, are filled in for us bit by bit, back and forth. The character depth is impressive and we end up feeling that we know them well, for better or worse.The main location focus of the book is Cape Cod, and the family summer home and stomping grounds there are described in loving detail based on the author's own fond memories of having spent summers there. The matriarch of the family resides here in the ancestral summer home (mansion), and at last she has her wish--a reason for all of the extended family to gather around for summer fun and games. The reason is that her young step granddaughter is getting married there. And as we meet the bride, Ruby; and her family; we begin to learn of the twists and turns of their lives. They are all trying to navigate through a soap opera's worth of dilemmas and the pandemic, at the same time.
The house itself is a sentient being, and we learn of her emotions as well. To me that is the glue that binds it all together.
Through it all, we laugh and cry as we face the ups and downs, including downright tragedies of life and of the choices made by each character. We also learn what the most important thing is in the end, which we really did know all along--family.
Show Less
LibraryThing member DKnight0918
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. I enjoyed this one a lot and the insights to how the pandemic and quarantines have changed relationships.
LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
This gets marked down 1/2 star for the really cheesy bits anthropomorphising the house. And another for how very complicated the relationships got.
Original language
English
Original publication date
2022-05
Physical description
432 p.; 9 inches
ISBN
1501133578 / 9781501133572