Author Hannah McKinnon established herself as one of the must-read authors of beach reads with The Summer House in 2017. In the years since, McKinnon has delivered heartful stories set in sandy, sunny New England towns. This year, McKinnon is back with another gripping read full of family, secrets, and rich people’s antics. The Summer Club drops on July 23rd — here is everything you need to know before its release!
Synopsis
Mayhaven is one of the oldest and most idyllic sites in Massachusetts. For years, the Mayhaven Beach Club has been a reliable source of escape for the wealthy residents of Rockwood. But things at Mayhaven aren’t as perfect as they seem, especially for the Birch family. This is supposed to be the perfect summer for seventeen-year-old Darcy Birch, but obstacles keep popping up: her new job as one of Mayhaven’s summer counselors is not as great as it seems; her mother won’t stop hovering; her father is drowning in his work as Mayhaven’s president; and her little brother is chafing for independence no wants to give him. Mayhaven is quickly changing from the haven it used to be.
There’s also the matter of the new neighbors. Ever since Flick Creevy, his mother, and his new stepfather moved next door to the Birches, the two families have been clashing. Flick wants nothing more than to return to his old life in New York, but his mother is pushing him to embrace their new countryside lifestyle. Apparently, “embracing” means getting a job at Mayhaven, where the club members couldn’t make it any more clear that Flick is an outsider. As Flick struggles to adjust to the whims of the wealthy, he learns not everything about his new home is bad, but will the good be enough to help him survive the summer?
Family Drama Full of Heart
For Ned it was both joy and sorrow: on some days a touchstone he carried in the palm of his hand like hope, on other days an old wound whose scab he sometimes edged the curve of his fingernail around.
With a picturesque country club serving as the background, we follow three main characters as they attempt to weather the tumultuous Mayhaven drama. Each of our main characters has their own motivations for loving or hating Mayhaven, all of which inevitably interweave with their relationships with their own families. At the heart of this book, family reigns over everything, even when the characters feel isolated from once-familiar relationships. As they navigate issues of class, growing up, and disillusionment, each faces the reality that they can’t preserve the state of their family relationships. But a changing relationship doesn’t mean it’s weakening, just that it’s maturing along with the characters.
Ned
As the recently appointed president of Mayhaven, Ned has to face the reality of running a business. While juggling the need for new members, he also faces the old and legacy members who are set in Mayhaven’s traditional ways. To make matters worse, his daughter Darcy has been growing distant ever since she quit golf, the spot that once was their sacred bonding activity. Ned wants to remain optimistic, thinking Darcy’s new job at Mayhaven will call her back to the sport. But Ned’s push to keep things the same as they’ve always been may be the thing that drives Darcy away forever.
Darcy
Darcy has always been more willing to face the vast difference between her family and other families of Mayhaven. While the other families are members and have ties to the club going back generations, the Birches only work for Mayhaven. This divide seems more prominent than ever since Darcy quit golf, and she stifles against her parents as she reckons with being an outsider in one of the most significant places of her life. She wants to tell her parents about her changed feelings for Mayhaven but doesn’t. Given her father’s commitment to keeping Mayhaven afloat, she’s worried about being another outsider, this time in her own family.
Flick
Things changed for Flick before he even got to Massachusetts. His mother’s marriage to Stan, the Dry Cleaning King, was an abrupt entrance to his small world. His world has always been him and his mother, and he liked it this way. Unlike Darcy and Ned, Mayhaven is not a source of conflict but a new beginning. In hopes of pleasing his mother, Flick gets a job at Mayhaven. This job should be his first step in adjusting to their new, wealthier lifestyle. But this look into the life of the rich just makes Flick ache more for the familiar. The new stepfather, the sudden move to the countryside, and a tense relationship with the next-door neighbors all feel like signs this new life won’t last.
Reminiscent of Older Times
Secrets, she has learned, are sharp objects to hold.
The Summer Club has a mix of adolescent angst and adult tension that you will find familiar if you love older, hour-long TV dramas. Think along the lines of Gilmore Girls or Parenthood. McKinnon gives all the main characters’ feelings and problems equal weight, which is refreshing to see in adult fiction. Some adult fiction that includes teenagers makes their issues seem small in comparison to the older characters’ issues. It is validating to see the trials and tribulations of coming of age treated as legitimate issues. Vice versa, the adult characters have their own shenanigans, reminding the readers that adults can be just as playful, dramatic, and emotional as teenagers.
Having three main characters with equal voices establishes the ensemble effect of the story. There are times when a character seems secluded in their thoughts and feelings, but given the ties between everybody, nothing happens in a vacuum. One event from one POV is bound to cause a ripple effect in the other perspectives. Jumping between the characters, sometimes knowing something is coming just not when, creates an exciting anticipation that has you desperately flipping the pages.
A Vote For Embracing Change
Mayhaven was everything his mother had hoped it would be and everything he’d feared.
Change is an inevitable part of life, but it’s not always easy to deal with. Each character struggles with changing aspects of a crucial part of their lives. Ned must face the fact that the Mayhaven of his younger years may be out of reach; Darcy suffers disillusionment of a place that is practically a member of the family; Flick has to learn to reconcile the fond memories of his old life with his mother with this newer, richer life with a stepfather.
While handling the characters’ worries with care, McKinnon also offers a critique of clubs like the fictional Mayhaven. Is upholding tradition worth the risk of excluding people? Should an older institution stay frozen in the past, or adapt with the times? In a fresh take on the cozy New England summer story, The Summer Club acknowledges that these enviable country clubs can have as many cons as they do pros.
Final Thoughts
The Summer Club is an emotional read that pulls on your heartstrings, disguised as a light and breezy beach read about the antics of an old country club. McKinnon uses staples of the genre — an idyllic, exclusive setting, a cast of varied regulars functioning in the background, and the freedom of an unrestrained summer full of possibilities — to deliver a new, thoughtful take on the reliable beach read. Equal parts humor and drama, The Summer Club is a story about facing change, whether it’s wanted or not because growing pains have no age limit.
You’ll love The Summer Club if you enjoyed these books:
- The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner
- The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrandnd
- This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune
- Sandwich by Catherine Newman
- The Forever Summer by Jamie Brenner
Bookstr’s The Summer Club Dream Cast:
- Jason Sudeikis as Ned Birch, the president of Mayhaven
- Peyton List as Darcy Birch, Ned’s daughter
- Michael Cimino as Flick Creevy, new hire at Mayhaven
- Christina Hendricks as Ingrid Birch, Ned’s wife and Darcy and Adam’s mother
- Coby Bird as Adam Birch, Darcy’s younger, autistic brother
- Stephanie Beatriz as Josie Creevy, Flick’s mom
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Stan the Dry Cleaning King, Flick’s new stepfather
Final Score: 3.5 / 5
If you want to add The Summer Club to your TBR, you can preorder it here! Thank you to Atria Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
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