The Book of Summer

March 27, 2017
Gable weaves a tale of generations of women who have come back to the comfort of their home in Sconset, Nantucket, time and time again. On the cusp of a difficult divorce, physician Bess Codman returns to Sconset to visit her mother, Cissy, at Cliff House, their family home on the bluff overlooking the sea. While Cissy is determined to get local government to approve erosion prevention methods. Bess struggles with her impending divorce, unplanned pregnancy, and newly awakened feelings for her high school boyfriend, Evan Mahew. Interspersed with present-day events are the musings of the past from the Book of Summer, a book started by Sarah Young, one of the first residents of Cliff House in 1914. She asked family and friends alike to memorialize their stay at the summer home with pictures or tales of their visit. Entries in the book are highlighted throughout the novel, revealing the difficulties faced by other residents, most notably Bess’s beloved grandmother Ruby, who lived in the home during World War II. Gable cleverly illuminates the past, revealing how it mirrors the present. This is a splendid multigenerational novel about the strength of the women of Cliff House. 100,000-copy announced first printing. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

March 1, 2017
Bess returns to Cliff House, her family's summer home for four generations, to extract her mother before the house slips off its Nantucket bluff into the North Atlantic, victim to the passage of time and the ravages of weather and erosion. The Cliff House guest book, filled with letter-style narratives rather than simple names and dates, illuminates the near-century of lives it has sheltered. As Bess tries to protect her mother and save her family's memories and heirlooms, she also grapples with the end of her four-year marriage. Coming home is a comfort and a distraction, as are the denizens of Nantucket, including Bess's high-school love. Told through contemporary narrative interspersed with transcribed entries from the guest book and local news stories, the story of a family and its triumphs, tragedies, and secrets unfolds, drawing the reader into Cliff House from the 1920s to 2013. A sure bet for women's-fiction fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Nantucket novels.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)