Summer People

A Novel

By: Elin Hilderbrand

Narrated by: Beth MacDonald

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

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, she decides that she must continue the family tradition of going to Nantucket, and at the same time fulfill a promise that Arch made before he died.

Beth invites Marcus, the son of Arch’s final and most challenging client, to spend the summer with her and her teenage twins, Winnie and Garrett, who have mixed reactions to sharing their special summer place with this stranger. Always a place of peace before, Nantucket becomes the scene of roiling emotions and turbulent passions as Marcus, Winnie, and Garrett learn about loss, first love, and betrayal. And when they stumble upon a shocking secret from Beth’s past, they must keep it from destroying the family they’ve been trying so hard to heal.

©2003 Elin Hilderbrand (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Insubstantial

Not a lot of substance here. A breezy beach read with a dash of racism, intolerance & guilt thrown in. Lacks character development. And - yes - the narration was subpar.

It was ok

Any additional comments?

This was an ok book. Easy listen but did not have my attention the whole time. Some characters were too predictable.

Excellent and relaxing read!

What did you love best about Summer People?

Real life situations in a beautiful scenery of Nantucket. Elin Hilderbrand gives a beautiful setting but with all the books I have read they are true to life situations. This one I thought each character played his/ her part with excellence. Always she grabs my attention from chapter 1!!

What other book might you compare Summer People to and why?

I can't compare it to any other book. Elin has a way of writing each of her books with a fresh storyline.

Which scene was your favorite?

It's difficult to choose one scene since I enjoyed the entire audio. I think Pipers explanation of babies compared to Beth's was surprising to me. Beth being a Mother I would have thought she would know the facts of real life growing inside of you but Piper was much more mature about this. That was impressive. The ending was excellent and complete not leaving me dangle to finish my own ending!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I think all and all it was a serious book not one with laughter. Bringing Beth's husband's ashes to Nantucket and getting through his death along with Marcus whose Mother was being defended in a murder trial by Archer; Beth's husband and the way the family did not blame Marcus's Mother for the death was a touching element of surprise.

Any additional comments?

I liked the way the relationships continued even after their leaving Nantucket at the end of the summer; it provided depth to the storyline.

Wonderful book

I loved this book. It touched on many life issues - love, death, racism, family - all set in the beauty of Nantucket Island.

Pretty good

I LOVE Elin Hilderbrand! This isn’t one of her best but I did like it. Didn’t care for the reader-she sounded way too old.

unexpected plot twist.

I enjoy the Nantucket backdrop and was surprised by the ending, even though it was more like real life than a summer novel.

A good listen

I enjoyed this book and listened to it as often as I could over a few days. The only thing that bothered me was the narrator trying to do accents. It was weird and out of place when she did an odd accent for most of the male characters. Her regular voice was fine but the accents were annoying.

Only ok

The storyline itself is decent but the narrator is pretty bad so it made listening to this rough.

Fun Read!

A little love here, a little love there. A dilemma here, a dilemma there, interesting enough story. I love Nantucket, this book is a fun read.

Not her best

I love Elin Hilderbrand however this was not my favorite. The narration was good which added to the reason I didn’t enjoy listening. The accents were not correct by any means.