Book Review: The Summer Wives

Author: Beatriz Williams

Publication Date: July 10, 2018

Publisher: William Morrow

New York Times bestselling author Beatriz Williams brings us the blockbuster novel of the season—an electrifying postwar fable of love, class, power, and redemption set among the inhabitants of an island off the New England coast . . .

In the summer of 1951, Miranda Schuyler arrives on elite, secretive Winthrop Island as a schoolgirl from the margins of high society, still reeling from the loss of her father in the Second World War. When her beautiful mother marries Hugh Fisher, whose summer house on Winthrop overlooks the famous lighthouse, Miranda’s catapulted into a heady new world of pedigrees and cocktails, status and swimming pools. Isobel Fisher, Miranda’s new stepsister—all long legs and world-weary bravado, engaged to a wealthy Island scion—is eager to draw Miranda into the arcane customs of Winthrop society.

But beneath the island’s patrician surface, there are really two clans: the summer families with their steadfast ways and quiet obsessions, and the working class of Portuguese fishermen and domestic workers who earn their living on the water and in the laundries of the summer houses. Uneasy among Isobel’s privileged friends, Miranda finds herself drawn to Joseph Vargas, whose father keeps the lighthouse with his mysterious wife. In summer, Joseph helps his father in the lobster boats, but in the autumn he returns to Brown University, where he’s determined to make something of himself. Since childhood, Joseph’s enjoyed an intense, complex friendship with Isobel Fisher, and as the summer winds to its end, Miranda’s caught in a catastrophe that will shatter Winthrop’s hard-won tranquility and banish Miranda from the island for nearly two decades.

Now, in the landmark summer of 1969, Miranda returns at last, as a renowned Shakespearean actress hiding a terrible heartbreak. On its surface, the Island remains the same—determined to keep the outside world from its shores, fiercely loyal to those who belong. But the formerly powerful Fisher family is a shadow of itself, and Joseph Vargas has recently escaped the prison where he was incarcerated for the murder of Miranda’s stepfather eighteen years earlier. What’s more, Miranda herself is no longer a naïve teenager, and she begins a fierce, inexorable quest for justice for the man she once loved . . . even if it means uncovering every last one of the secrets that bind together the families of Winthrop Island.

Beatriz Williams continues to be one of my favorite authors. Her newest story, The Summer Wives, follows Miranda, in alternating timelines, as she tells us the story of Winthrop Island and the Families versus the Islanders. Miranda, as a young girl, fell in love with a Portuguese lobsterman, which of course was frowned upon by her rich, affluent parents. You find out early on that there was a murder on the island and Miranda’s lover, Joseph was involved. I won’t go any further than this, but know that this is not a murder mystery.

I felt that this book was a very powerful character study of Miranda Schuyler and how her life evolved and changed during one summer. We do get to meet and know other characters, but Miranda is the shining light in the story. Part of the story is her coming-of-age story and the other part is her realizing the mistakes she made in her life and what really mattered after all. I loved the look into Miranda’s life as a young girl on the island. She was carefree, naïve, and totally impressionable. I loved watching her experience the island and learn what love meant to her. She was an amazing character to follow.

Beatriz Williams is a born writer. She can transport readers to beautiful worlds, usually years and years before our own. Her writing is rich and full of intense passion between characters. I felt as if I was walking around Winthrop Island alongside Miranda and I found myself really enjoying her descriptions of the island and the lives of all who inhabited it during the summer. When you read Williams’ writing, you can immediately tell that she does her research regarding life in the 20’s, 30’s, 50’s, or whatever era she is writing in. Her prose is powerful and will completely transport you to the world of the characters you are reading about.

“There's something about the smells of your childhood, isn't there? ... You still remember those small sublime joys with an ache of longing because there's no getting it back, is there? You cannot return to a state of innocence.”

“They love a little excitement at the Winthrop Island Club, and don’t let them tell you any differently.”

“Most mornings, there were roses of various colors, white and pinks and yellows and occasionally even red. I remember they were not always fragrant – each variety of rose has its own personality, you know, and some are bred for looks alone – but occasionally, like the day of the moon landing, the twentieth of July, their perfume so saturated the air, sultry and delicate all at once, I thought I was drunk. I buried my face in the middle of the bouquet, disregarding the possibility of thorns, and – as I did every morning – I looked around for some sign of my clandestine scent left hanging in the air, or the movement of some swift body in the boxwoods.”

Although this is not my favorite Beatriz Williams novel, you can never go wrong with her stories. She is a very talented writer and I will never stop reading her stories. They are perfect for summer – light, but deep enough to keep you invested and draw you in from start to finish. I cannot recommend Beatriz’s stories enough – she truly has a way with words!

***A free copy of this book was provided by the publishers at William Morrow in exchange for my honest review***