This book was a pleasure to read. Starting out from a summer camp crisis, it spirals into a big web of connections over several generations of people. The focus of the book is on the differences between the people who have money and the townies that are there to earn it.
Part of the fun for me was discovering the connections between characters, and guessing at who, where and when. The book jumps frequently between several time frames, the most recent of which is 1975. Sometimes the jumps seemed to be happening too quickly and it was hard to follow a specific character’s track, but the author included a small indicator at the start of each chapter to show where you were in the timeline, and I thought it was an elegant solution.
Speaking of 1975, the book made sure to point out some of the ways that women had it worse back then. I couldn’t help but remember the Phillip morris magnets on my parent’s refrigerator when I was growing up: You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby! The book is largely female-centric, and it is the female characters that largely drive the story and overcome obstacles. I’m fine with girl power type books, but occasionally it does feel a little out of balance.
But the author did a great job of laying out a complex story across several timelines and brought it all to a very satisfying resolution. It was a very entertaining reading experience.
Next I am reading Glass Houses by Madeline Ashby.
