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Summer House
by
Nancy Thayer
After years of wandering from whim to whim, thirty-year-old Charlotte Wheelwright seems to have at last found her niche. The free spirit enjoys running an organic gardening business on the island of Nantucket, thanks in large part to her spry grandmother Nona, who donated a portion of land on the family’s seaside compound to get Charlotte started. Though Charlotte’s skill ...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
June 23rd 2009
by Ballantine Books
(first published June 7th 2009)
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Originally posted on http://acozyreaderscorner.blogspot.com/2...
The novel Summer House follows three generations of strong willed Wheelwright women as they wrestle with decisions that will change their lives. The story starts off with the youngest of the three generations. Charlotte Wheelwright has always wanted to impress her father and make him proud, but so far she feels she has failed. Charlotte did not enjoy the family business of banking, and has spent much of her adult life afl...more
The novel Summer House follows three generations of strong willed Wheelwright women as they wrestle with decisions that will change their lives. The story starts off with the youngest of the three generations. Charlotte Wheelwright has always wanted to impress her father and make him proud, but so far she feels she has failed. Charlotte did not enjoy the family business of banking, and has spent much of her adult life afl...more
The traditions of Boston Brahmin life on Beacon Hill and Nantucket, the access to education, career and life style, set the framework for this novel. While there are a number of extended family members who revere the inherent code of this life, a handful have not. Thus, it is their story, the 90 year old matriarch, 60 year old daughter in law and 30 year old granddaughter who face life-changing challenges and find their way through them.
The grandmother’s memories of her post-Radcliffe life...more
The grandmother’s memories of her post-Radcliffe life...more
Summer House is the tale of three generations of women who are all vacationing together with their families on their Nantucket retreat. Nona is the 90-year old matriarch of the family and remembers back to the days when she first met, feel in love with, had to separate with her husband during WWII. Her daughter-in-law Helen is facing current troubles with her husband Worth and their three children. Helen’s daughter Charlotte has started her own organic garden business on the island and is run...more
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I got this book for free at a shopping event in New York. I figured I'd give it a shot.
First off, what does an author need to do to get some decent editors? I mean, seriously. This woman has written how many books and her publisher can't hire people who know how to copy edit? Typos GALORE in this book. Very distracting. Also distracting, the fact that the book takes place in present day but for some reason all the dialogue feels as though it was written in 1925 in England. Very uppe...more
First off, what does an author need to do to get some decent editors? I mean, seriously. This woman has written how many books and her publisher can't hire people who know how to copy edit? Typos GALORE in this book. Very distracting. Also distracting, the fact that the book takes place in present day but for some reason all the dialogue feels as though it was written in 1925 in England. Very uppe...more
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With a title like “Summer House,” this book could be just an ordinary beach read. But Nancy Thayer has transformed this story from light to deep in her multi-layered family drama.
The Wheelwrights of Boston, with an ancestral summer home on Nantucket, have traditions and a legacy; many who have married into the family have striven to live up to both with some difficulty. From the current matriarch Anne (Nona) down to the contemporary Wheelwrights, there are expectations and disappoi...more
The Wheelwrights of Boston, with an ancestral summer home on Nantucket, have traditions and a legacy; many who have married into the family have striven to live up to both with some difficulty. From the current matriarch Anne (Nona) down to the contemporary Wheelwrights, there are expectations and disappoi...more
Pretty good book. I enjoyed reading this, although I wish the characters names were a bit more normal. Guess the author was really trying to hard to paint of picture of snobbish uppercrust!
Over the years I have enjoyed many Nancy Thayer books. In fact, I think that I have read every one that she has written. The first one that I read was Stepping which my sister passed on to me. I think that she has read all of Nancy's books, also! I did reach a time where I started to be disenchanted with the fact that the main character in her book had some heartaches but they always had money to redo houses on Nantucket and buy new cars and then wind up happily ever after with a new man. I...more
This wasn't as bad as the other Thayer book I recently read, Beachcombers, but there is so much good chick lit (with the beach chick lit practically its own genre) out there these days that I don't need to read any more Nancy Thayer. As a former Kansas City resident I can appreciate her shoutouts to her former hometown, but the overwrought predictability and unlikeable characters that abound in her books I cannot deal with so much.
These sentences I have to quote because they're just ...more
These sentences I have to quote because they're just ...more
I enjoyed reading the twists and turns of the Wheelwright family (and it made me think that maybe my own family isn't so crazy after all). This book shows you that although a person may seem to be "perfect", he or she most likely has secrets from the past.
The story is told from the different viewpoints from three women from differnet generations of the same family. I found it interesting to read about the forties from Nona, the grandmother. I felt sorry for Helen, th...more
The story is told from the different viewpoints from three women from differnet generations of the same family. I found it interesting to read about the forties from Nona, the grandmother. I felt sorry for Helen, th...more
I read most of this multigenerational narrative, and initially felt it had the makings of a great summer read. Sadly, I just couldn't get through it. I found the switching between the grandmother, mother, and granddaughter's perspectives to be clunky. The secondary characters were flat; maybe they rounded out a bit in the final quarter of the novel, but they came off as too black-and-white. The book doesn’t have a particularly good or original story, lacks compelling characters, and offers l...more
The extended Wheelwright family comes together every summer at their Nantucket home. This year, the Family Meeting may be tempestuous, as Charlotte has finally made a go of something--her organic roadside garden. The other arms of the family are crying foul, as Charlotte rents her acres from Nona for a pittance. The story shifts between matriarch Nona, her daughter-in-law Helen and granddaughter Charlotte. Nona's story shines, her memories of being a young war bride entering the wealthy, stai...more
Summer House is told through the viewpoints of three women in the same family. Nona- is the 90 year old grandmother and head of the family. Helen- in her late fifties, she is married to Nona's son Worth. And Charlotte- thirty, she's Helen's daughter and is residing yearlong at the summer house in Nantucket along with her grandmother Nona. The Wheelwright family is all gathering together in their summer house for what they call "Family Meeting" (a meeting where the whole family comes to...more
A light beach read. I know from other reviewers that they did not like the shifting perspectives between dughter-mother-grandmother, but I enjoyed the way each character developed. Charlotte's romance(s) were very boring and not engaging in the least. The only thing I had a hard time with (and this is just my personality) was that everyone was so forgiving of each other, and just afraid of confrontation...I just wanted one character(any one!) to really tell off another (again, any of them, but e...more
When Summer House became available for download from my library, I thought is looked like it might be a pretty good book. Hey, at least I can say I tried, right? Once I got to the part with the part where Helen overheard her husband speaking to his mistress on the phone, I had to shut it off. The woman was spineless and just let it go like nothing was wrong. Hello? The guy is cheating on you and you do nothing? The other characters weren't in the least bit interesting and I just knew it wa...more
I'm not really sure what to say about this book. I guess I'll start off with why I chose to read it. This was a seasonal read for one of my groups and I'm not sure I would have picked it up and/or stuck with it if it weren't for that fact.
Honestly by the time I reached the end all I could think was "Is it over yet?" I felt no connection with the characters, the language felt dated, the plot was unbearably boring and also some plots were nonsensical. I also really disliked t...more
Honestly by the time I reached the end all I could think was "Is it over yet?" I felt no connection with the characters, the language felt dated, the plot was unbearably boring and also some plots were nonsensical. I also really disliked t...more
I really enjoyed this. I seem to enjoy stories about the interaction among family members. This is a story about an extended family told from the perspective of 3 generations of women--Nona, the 90-year-old grandmother and matriarch of the family; Helen, Nona's daughter-in-law; and Charlotte, Nona's granddaughter.
The story takes place one summer on Nantucket Island where the entire extended family spends the summer. It covers the various interactions, jealousies, problems, and exe...more
The story takes place one summer on Nantucket Island where the entire extended family spends the summer. It covers the various interactions, jealousies, problems, and exe...more
The Wheelwright clan is one of New England's oldest families, whose matriarch Anne, known to the family as Nona is celebrating her 90th birthday. Amidst great personal drama, her children, grandchildren and two small great grandchildren converge on Nantucket for the summer. Among the festivities to be celebrated are Nona's birthday and the annual family meeting.
Even though Nona has two children, most of this books is focused on her son, Worth, his wife Helen and their family. Her daug...more
Even though Nona has two children, most of this books is focused on her son, Worth, his wife Helen and their family. Her daug...more
This book was just ok for me. There were some fairly interesting characters, but there was never enough to make me really care about them. I finally got used to the changing narrative voices, but at the beginning I almost gave up--I thought, "oh no, not another character's perspective." Although I never got caught up in any of the happenings, I did finish the book, sort of like watching an average TV movie when you just don't have anything better to do.
This book was told from three generations of women...Nona, the 90-year old grandmother, her daughter-in-law Helen, and Helen's daughter Charlotte. A great book with some good family drama. There were some great plot twists that I didn't see coming either, and a few characters that really annoyed me (Grace, Mee). But, I couldn't believe how many typos were in this book though, where was the editor?
I'll definitely read more from Nancy Thayer!
I'll definitely read more from Nancy Thayer!
The Wheelwright family has spent every summer for generations at their summer home on the island of Nantucket. The story centers around three women; Nona, who is ninety and matriarch to all; Helen, Nona's daughter-in-law, who must deal with her husbands infidelity; and Charlotte, Helen's daughter who has an organic farm on the family's property. I especially enjoyed Nona's flashbacks to her life during WWII.
Made me want to move to Nantucket and spend a summer on the beach. Lovely read about a large family who struggle with family issues. The flashbacks to WWII were poignant, discussing the early threads of dysfunction in high societal families. The characters were terrific, deep and honest. Trust issues, alcholism, lust and love are central themes in this easy read.
Oh wow...this book was not my favorite. It was so wordy, I found myself skimming pages and ready to toss it. I did read the first 100 pages, 10 from the middle, and 10 from the end...Huh...I thought it would never end. The story concept was good, but the author dragged out each character so long...I got bored and frustrated. Not sure I would read another Nancy Thayer..
This is my least favorite Nancy Thayer book so far. The plot seemed to take awhile to get to any really juicy parts. Also, one of the characters, Charlotte, suddenly revealed that she had a secret that was eating her up inside and I was so confused as I swear she hadn't mentioned it before. Then, once she reveals it, it sort of gets brushed aside like it was nothing. In my opinion, it was a pointless part of the plot.
Another good predictable book by this author. Not as good as some of her past work but interesting family drama all the same. Was really surprised at all the errors, though. Didn't anybody check the book over before it went to print? That was a little annoying.
Nothing shocking oe earthshattering happened in the story, thus only 3 stars.
Nothing shocking oe earthshattering happened in the story, thus only 3 stars.
I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't ready to leave these characters at the end of the book. The author did a great job of capturing the family dynamic. I especially loved the viewpoint of the 90 year old grandmother. I also loved the gardening aspect especially the mention of chokecherries and rosa rugosa- two things I want to plant myself.
Not a bad read - good beach read since it takes place in the summer on Nantucket. But it's not a frothy romance; Summer House deals with family relationships and all the complicated emotions that those entanglements bring. Surprises are in store as more is revealed about those entanglements towards the end of the book.
Ahhhh.... a light, interesting, well-fleshed out story set in Nantucket. Mainly the story of the matriarch the granddaughter who lives with her, this is a relationship tale of all the members of a complex, crazy, but loving family. A bit of romance, but the real fascination in the familial relationships, not the romantic ones.
I havent felt much like reading this summer...then I spotted this book in the clearance rack at Target....its a good poolside read...tells the tale of a family coming to reunion at a beach house in the summer time...perhaps its just what i needed to get into the groove of reading again...off to the library we go today:)
It was a nice light read - I think it wanted to be deep and profound but just wasn't. AND she said that people had constructed a quilt by doing needlepoint squares!!! HUH? I liked the characters - just couldn't get all that involved in them. It did make me long to visit Nantucket though. Not sure I would read another one of her books.
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Nancy Thayer has a B.A. and M.A. in English literature from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Before settling down to write and have children she taught English at various colleges and traveled, living in Paris, Amsterdam and Helsinki. In 1981 she was a Fellow at the Breadloaf Writers Conference. She has lived on Nantucket Island year round for twenty-five years with her husband Charley W...more
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