The Beach at Summerly

A Novel

De: Beatriz Williams

Narrado por: Saskia Maarleveld

""There are few more skilled practitioners of the craft of summer fiction than Beatriz Williams."" — The New York Times Book Review

A ravishing summer read from New York Times bestseller Beatriz Williams, sweeping readers back to a mid-century New England rich with secrets and Cold War intrigue.

June 1946. As the residents of Winthrop Island prepare for the first summer season after the sacrifice of war, a glamorous new figure moves into the guest cottage at Summerly, the idyllic seaside estate of the wealthy Peabody family. To Emilia Winthrop, daughter of Summerly’s year-round caretaker and a descendant of the island’s settlers, Olive Rainsford opens a window into a world of shining possibility. While Emilia spent the war years caring for her incapacitated mother, Olive traveled the world, married fascinating men, and involved herself in political causes. She’s also the beloved aunt of the two surviving Peabody sons, Amory and Shep, with whom Emilia has a tangled romantic history.

As the summer wears on, Emilia develops a deep rapport with Olive, who urges her to leave the island for a life of adventure, while romance blossoms with the sturdy and honorable Shep. But the heady promise of Peabody patronage is blown apart by the arrival of Sumner Fox, an FBI agent who demands Emilia’s help to capture a Soviet agent who’s transmitting vital intelligence on the West’s atomic weapon program from somewhere inside the Summerly estate.

April 1954. Eight years later, Summerly is boarded up and Emilia has rebuilt her shattered life as a professor at Wellesley College, when shocking news arrives from Washington—the traitor she helped convict is about to be swapped for an American spy imprisoned in the Soviet Union, but with a mysterious condition only Emilia can fulfill. A reluctant Emilia is summoned to CIA headquarters, where she’s forced to confront the harrowing consequences of her actions that fateful summer, and a choice that could destroy the Peabody family—and Emilia’s chance for redemption—all over again.

""Grand and gripping...shot through with suspense, romance, and glorious, beach-laden locales. I could not put it down.""--Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The Mitford Affair

Not Your Typical Beach Read!

Roller coaster of events with surprise ending. Plucky protagonist; misguided antagonist with some redeeming qualities. Coincided reading this with haunting relevance to current events in early March 2025.

Intrigue

This story starts out slowly building the plot but once it takes off it is a page turner and you never know what is going to happen next. Most of the story occurs right after WWII during the Cold War with Soviet Union and how all this affects the main characters with covert activity, love going wrong and secrets that I never saw coming.

Another good one!

Love this book! Sad it’s over…love how Beatriz had characters from her other books! Makes it so much more interesting! I have binged ALL of her books this year & hate that I now have to wait for another one!!! That’s a good thing tho!

Slow start but magnificent women characters

I loved the relationship between Olive and Cricket and the description of their friendship, mentorship and Olive’s overreach. I wished the story was twice as long. Felt like so many characters could use more development, especially Shep and Susanna. We needed more 1946 interactions to know of Shep and Olive’s post-war connection and the consequent loss when everything transpired. Felt rushed.

A Cold War Summer

Hi love everything by Beatrice Williams. The Beach at Summerly did not disappoint. I could feel the seabreeze and smell the salty air. I knew a lot of how the story was going to unfold, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment I highly recommend it.