The Gypsy Moth Summer

April 17, 2017
Something is rotten in the heart of Avalon Island, home to Grudder Aviation, where the devastation wrought by the 1992 invasion of gypsy moths underscores the tension boiling to the surface of the islanders’ lives. Intermingled with scientific data about gypsy moths, Fierro’s (Cutting Teeth) riveting second novel unfolds through the eyes of multiple generations. Social doyenne Veronica is struggling to hide her husband’s dementia and protect his domineering image as “The Colonel” (president of Grudder Aviation) while keeping her terminal cancer and his long-time abuse of her a secret. Maddie, her granddaughter, traverses the slippery terrain of adolescence with its hormones and fearsome popularity entanglements. Dom, Maddie’s younger brother, is by turns ashamed and bewildered by his homosexuality. Leslie, renegade adult daughter of a rival prominent family, returns to the island on a mission to bring Grudder down, while her husband, Jules, a Harvard-educated African American, tries to navigate the challenge of bringing up his teenage son, Brooks, and four-year-old daughter, Eva, in the lily-white enclave of the Avalon upper crust. Can the budding romance between Brooks and Maddie survive against the backdrop of racism, class rivalries, changing social mores, and Leslie’s desperation for revenge? That question is poignantly answered in a powerful story showcasing a dizzying spectrum of relationships from the deeply destructive to the supportive and loving.

Christa Lewis soberly narrates a detailed story on racial struggles in the early '90s. Leslie Marshall returns to Avalon Island with her multiracial family, which stirs up trouble from more conservative locals. Local girl Maddie falls in love with one of the Marshall's sons, and this causes further tension as she tries to hide her budding relationship from her racist father. Although Lewis's narration can be unvaried in tone and choppy in pacing, she should be commended for tackling such a meaty performance involving several serious themes including the social divide, environmental issues, and progressivism. This audiobook is intriguing for those interested in darker fiction. G.M. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine