The Summer House

When Flossy Merrill summons her children to the beloved family beach house to celebrate their father's eightieth birthday, both cherished memories and long-kept secrets come to light in this charming and lyrical novel from the author of The Lake Season and Mystic Summer.

Flossy Merrill has managed to--somewhat begrudgingly--gather her three ungrateful grown children from their dysfunctional lives for a summer reunion at the family's Rhode Island beach house. Clementine, her youngest child and a young mother of two small children, has caused Flossy the most worry after enduring a tragically life-altering year. But Samuel and his partner Evan are not far behind in their ability to alarm: their prospective adoption search has just taken a heart-wrenching turn. Only Paige, the eldest of the headstrong Merrill clan, is her usual self: arriving precisely on time with her well-adapted teens. Little does her family know that she, too, is facing personal struggles of her own.

No matter. With her family finally congregated under one seaside roof, Flossy is determined to steer her family back on course even as she prepares to reveal the fate of the summer house that everyone has thus far taken for granted: she's selling it. The Merrill children are both shocked and outraged and each returns to memories of their childhoods at their once beloved summer house--the house where they have not only grown up, but from which they have grown away. With each lost in their respective heartaches, Clementine, Samuel, and Paige will be forced to reconsider what really matters before they all say goodbye to a house that not only defined their summers, but, ultimately, the ways in which they define themselves. Featuring McKinnon's "sharp and evocative" (Kirkus Reviews) voice, this warm-hearted novel is perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Mary Alice Monroe.

Author: Hannah McKinnon
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 06/06/2017
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.30w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781501162800


Review Citation(s):
Shelf Awareness 06/27/2017

About the Author
Hannah McKinnon is the author of several acclaimed novels, including The Lake Season, Mystic Summer, The Summer House, Sailing Lessons, The View from Here, Message in the Sand, The Darlings, The Summer Club, and The Sandy Page Bookshop. She graduated from Connecticut College and the University of South Australia. She lives in Connecticut, with her family, a flock of chickens, and two raggedy rescue dogs.