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Summer People
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, s...more
ebook, 368 pages
Published
April 27th 2010
by St. Martin's Press
(first published May 30th 2003)
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Oh dilemma, because I'm hesitating between a 3 and a 4 stars for this one. I know I’m in for a nice treat when I read a book by Elin Hilderbrand, that's for sure. I may not always like all the characters she puts on paper (as in this one), but I always thoroughly enjoy her writing style and the stories she brings, set on beautiful Nantucket. This one, centering on the Newton family, might well be the most touching I’ve read so far by this author. The parts that revealed what happened in the past...more
I thought this was a good summer read. Hildebrand's style is easy, she brings you into the world of the Newton family effortlessly and even though I didn't necessarily like some of the characters, I was still drawn into the story. This book centers around Beth Newton, recently widowed by prominant New York attorney, Arch Newton. Arch Newton was killed in a mysterious plane crash in March, after defending Constance Tyler, a black woman from Queens who savagely murdered her sister-in-law and neice...more
More than anything else, this book is about loss, and the different ways people grieve. You might think that would make a book depressing, but I actually found it to be optimistic and even humorous at times.
It's summer, and the wealthy, upper-East-Side Newton family is headed to their beach house on Nantucket, as they do every year. This year, however, they do it without their father, Arch, who was killed three months earlier in a plane crash. His children, twins Winnie and Garrett, have been un...more
It's summer, and the wealthy, upper-East-Side Newton family is headed to their beach house on Nantucket, as they do every year. This year, however, they do it without their father, Arch, who was killed three months earlier in a plane crash. His children, twins Winnie and Garrett, have been un...more
Summer People' is a perfect beach/pool read. Hilderbrand really brings the characters to life and makes you feel like you are feeling their sorrow, pain, joy, love, shame, etc. I think she nailed the teenage emotion, especially the feelings surrounding first love. When the secret from Beth's past is revealed (not a huge deal to me as an adult but I can imagine teenage children feeling slighted) she nailed the kids reactions. My only complaints are that I wish she spent more time on Marcus (a com...more
I will start by saying I am a big fan of Elin Hilderbrand. This is the sixth novel I have read from this author and I think it is one of my top favorites. I have read “Barefoot”, “The Island”, “The Castaways”, “The Love Season”, and “Silver Girl”. I can honestly say that I could not put this book down. There is an ease to her writing style that pulls you in to her story and makes all the characters very relatable.
As proven in her previous books, Hilderbrand is a master at dealing with the famil...more
As proven in her previous books, Hilderbrand is a master at dealing with the famil...more
Hildebrand’s latest novel is perhaps her best writing yet; her prose is more finely drawn here. Her characters are more complicated, some more self absorbed but all reveal a depth that allows them to grow and change by novel’s end. All the characters have had lives of privilege, which is no guarantee for happiness or fulfillment, but they all have a keen sense of family and their duty to one another. Their journey to the isolated island off the coast of Nantucket involves a month living a life s...more
Reading about the sun, the ocean and the joys of summer at the beach is exactly what I needed as winter started. What I didn't need was the sappy, lack of depth story that I found in this book.
The story is about a family that has recently lost their father, Arch Newton, who was on his way home from a work trip. They seek solice in their summer tradition-going to Nantucket Island. Despite needing time for them to heal as a family, mom Beth and her twins, Winnie and Garrett, aren't making the trip...more
The story is about a family that has recently lost their father, Arch Newton, who was on his way home from a work trip. They seek solice in their summer tradition-going to Nantucket Island. Despite needing time for them to heal as a family, mom Beth and her twins, Winnie and Garrett, aren't making the trip...more
I loved the setting and the characters, Beth and Marcus. I predicted what Beth's big secret was, so was disappointed about that. I didn't quite get the twins' reaction to the secret and thought it was a bit overboard. I couldn't stand David and his pushing himself on Beth who is grieving the death of her husband........seriously? What a jerk for him to expect a relationship with her only 3 months after her husband died. He really bothered me and was extremely selfish. However, I understand ther...more
The more I think about this book, the more obvious its flaws become. Marcus is totally a "magic Negro" character (please forgive the horrible expression, but I don't know how else to put it - the African-American character who makes everyone better just from knowing him!) and all the other characters are weird and flawed but the book isn't deep enough to sustain such unlikable characters. The teenage son is a total a-hole and that fact is given inadequate moral weight. The sort-of love interest...more
I'm in love with every Elin Hilderbrand book I've read because they are such GOOD stories. The characters and their dilemmas, problems, and entanglements are always interesting and relatable. In Summer People, a family dealing with the tragic loss of husband and father Arch Newton retreats to their summer home on Nantucket for a summer of solace and healing. Along for the ride is the son of the woman Arch was defending on capital murder charges when he died. To add further complications, Arch's...more
I was hesitant to read this book. I'm not really into the predictable beach read genre and the cover really turns me off, but you know what they say about covers. Although it was predictable, it wasn't cheesy. There were a few issues that the characters dealt with that were portrayed as way more dramatic than they would have been in real life. I would have given this book 2 stars had it not been for Marcus. I wish he had been more developed and that issues with his mom had been addressed and res...more
I needed a summer fluff book. This book and its $4 price tag at Costco accommodated me.
It was fluffy. Once I understood the title, that there are wealthy people who spend entire summers doing nothing in their second homes on beautiful and quaint islands, I forgave the shallowness of most of the characters. It is supposed to be about seemingly shallow people albeit shallow people who are grieving for their dead spouse and father. That doesn't forgive the lack of depth Hilderbrand wrote all the o...more
It was fluffy. Once I understood the title, that there are wealthy people who spend entire summers doing nothing in their second homes on beautiful and quaint islands, I forgave the shallowness of most of the characters. It is supposed to be about seemingly shallow people albeit shallow people who are grieving for their dead spouse and father. That doesn't forgive the lack of depth Hilderbrand wrote all the o...more
Beth learns to live without her beloved husband, Archer Newton. Her children, twins Winnie and Garrett have a harder time accepting their mother as sole parent in addition to the loss. Beth takes her remaining family (along with the child of her husband's murderous client, Marcus) to Nantucket to her childhood summer home to find some normalcy. Instead she finds an old love, the children find their first loves and they each grapple with the notion of leaving Nantucket and returning to their NYC...more
The book was ok, at first I couldn't get into it. Although the ending wasn't what I expecting, I wouldn't necessarily suggest it. The storyline was about a lawyer that died unexpectidly while defending a lady tried for capital punishment for killing her sister in law and daughter (the reason why she killed was never told). The guy ended up dying in a horrific plane crash and the book is really about how the family copes. There of course is a love triangle which was kind of dumb and snotty teenag...more
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How a family copes with tragedy, a common plot, husband/father/lawyer dies in a plan crash. The family escapes to their summer home to recover, bringing along the son of the murderess whom the father had been representing. Hilderbrand does a nice job describing the setting and introducing the reader to the characters. I connected with the guest, Marcus, and David, the wife's first husband. I did not, however, find the immediate family very interesting. Their lives, though seemingly grounded in a...more
I enjoyed this book. I have enjoyed all of Hilderbrand's books that I have read so far. I especially like reading them in the summer since they are always set on the island of Nantucket, and it's fun imagining I'm there while I'm reading outside somewhere. Anyway, I absolutely loved the ending of this book. It was the best ending of a book I have read in a while. Hilderbrand ties up a few loose ends very nicely, and I felt content and satisfied with where all of the characters were left. Definit...more
I love when I find a book at Goodwill or a yard sale for fifty cents that turns out to be a wonderful and entertaining read. This was not one of those books. The story was predictable. The characters were boring. But it was like the Lifetime movie that you find while flipping through the channels. There isn't anything else on and you can't stop watching, even though you know the ending and the acting is horrible. Katherine Heigl will likely play the lead if this is ever made into a movie.
This book didn't have much to offer. Primarily shallow and one dimensional characters and a highly personal story that was less than memorable. A story about shallow rich folks living the good life all summer, while grieving for their various losses. Meh. It didn't even make enough of an impact for me to write a lengthy rant review. It's pretty much what I expected when I opened it up.
Nothing special, the dialogue of the young characters often seemed forced and out of touch, and peppered in the...more
Nothing special, the dialogue of the young characters often seemed forced and out of touch, and peppered in the...more
By my reviews, I guess you can tell I live near the beach so I tag many of my books "beach reads." That means it's light reading, not too thought-provoking and definitely not scary. This is the second of Hilderbrand's books I've read. Both have been set in summer in Nantucket. Summer people centers around a family who is dealing with the tragic loss of their husband and father. Emotional, yet believable. Hildebrand does a good job of character development. There were portions that seemed to drag...more
I LOVED this book, every word had me breathing in the pain and loss and confusion this whole family was going through. I could not put it down! The ways the author kept certain information in the dark was the perfect balance of wanting us to read more to figure it out but also gave us just enough to give us a guess to the basics of the secret. Beautifully written, I really connected with this family and I look forward to finding more of the authors work :)
Such a sweet book. I loved all of the characters- they were flawed and realistic. A woman who has recently been widowed takes her seventeen-year-old twins to their summer home in Nantucket. They also bring a guest- the seventeen-year-old son of a woman who was sent to prison for life for murder. As all of these peoples' stories unfold you are brought into their world. You understand exactly why they do what they do, even if it's not the best choice.
Another great book by Hilderbrand. This story starts with a family headed to Nantucket to spend the summer. In the car is the mom, the twin boy and girl and a boy who was invited by the father who has now died in a plane crash. The family struggles with grief and this unwanted boy they invited who is actually the son of the woman their father was defending on a murder case when he died. Hilderbrand very nicely blends the story together of secrets and 1st loves while dealing with their grief. I c...more
Elin Hilderbrand is one of my go-to author's during the summer months...her style is easy and welcoming like an old friend. I get completely sucked in to her depictions of Nantucket as I read. Summer People wasn't my favorite of her books, but I enjoyed several of the characters' stories. I felt the most empathy for Winnie and Marcus. Beth's character irritated me. But, I empathized with the struggle for each character to work through feelings of grief.
I really, really enjoyed reading this book. It had really good meaning to it. I really wouldn't mind reading it a second time, and that means a lot cause I normally don't go back and read a book a second time. If you are going to the beach on vacation or anything I would HIGHLY recommend taking this book. I finished this book in a few hours, I couldn't put it down. I will definitely be getting more of Elin Hilderbrand's books.
I have a sneaking suspicion I read this book - or at least started this book - sometime before. I remember details from the first couple of chapters but not the plot development or the ending. This is why I need Goodreads because clearly my memory is failing ;)
Anyway, another good Elin Hilderbrand read. I am sad to say that this will be my last review of her work until she writes another one. It's been a very good ride!
Anyway, another good Elin Hilderbrand read. I am sad to say that this will be my last review of her work until she writes another one. It's been a very good ride!
Entertaining vacation-by-the-beach read. Summer people represented those in my life who don't want to commit and who will take the easy way out whenever possible. They live on the surface and enjoy the moment Year-rounders are those who stay around and do the hard part of living. They are the deeper, more grounded ones. Maybe not always the fun ones but the ones you want by your side for the long haul.
I'm still a relative newcomer to Elin Hilderbrands books but I am so hooked. She just does tremendous character development and you feel real emotion towards the characters in the book. Newly widowed Beth Newton takes her twin children and her late husband's client's son to their house on Nantucket for the summer where they will experience love, loss, friendship and quite a few growing pains.
Picked this one up at Costco one day this summer. Mindless read. More swearing than I would like to read (totally pointless in my opinion)...but I guess it kept my attention and kind of surprised me with its ending. Book deals with some heavy topics such as death, and life (in the form of teenage pregnancy), premarital sex and teenage emotions/sexual desires. Makes me scared to be a parent to teenagers.
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Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her five previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.
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Jun 03, 2011 10:08pm