Review: Summerland Cove (by Ellen Baker)

My Rating: 4 stars

Given its cover and title as well as its seaside and summer vacation setting – combined with an interesting premise with a mysterious disappearance at its center, a splash of summer romance, a bunch of messy family relationships, and too many secrets to count -- this book had all the trappings of a “perfect for the summer months” read.  This also proved to be a bit lighter fare than the books I’ve been reading lately, so timing-wise, this worked well in getting me settled into the rhythm of my summer reading journey.

In a story that revolves around one summer in 2010, three women from different generations of the same family narrate the events that occur during a get-together to celebrate three big events over the course of three weekends:  a birthday, a 50^th anniversary party, and a wedding.  At her family’s summer cottage located in a coastal town called Summerland Cove in Maine, 50-year-old Lindy is setting up for her husband David’s birthday bash, which she had been planning for weeks, alongside her parents Greta and Tom’s 50^th anniversary celebration to take place the next weekend, and culminating with her eldest daughter Hailey’s wedding the weekend after that. With only a few hours to go before the party starts, Lindy is busy putting the final touches on the arrangements and making sure things are in tip-top shape.  As the final guests arrive and the party is already underway however, the guest of honor – birthday boy David – is nowhere to be found.  When it becomes apparent that David isn’t merely “late” but rather a “no show” to his own party, the family starts to panic.  Did something happen? Is he okay? Is his disappearance intentional or an accident?  With so many questions and no good answers, the celebration turns into a frantic search that gradually leads to the unraveling of one family secret after another.

The story unfolds through the alternating perspectives of Greta, Lindy, and Hailey, who each give their take on the events that occur while also providing insight into their thoughts and feelings and, ultimately, secrets that we as readers become privy to but some of the characters don’t. I think this structure worked fine overall, though with the three of them narrating some of the same events, there was bound to be some repetition here and there, which had the effect of making some parts feel a tad drawn out – and I did feel that the book as a whole was longer than it really needed to be.  Out of the 3 POVs, I connected the most to Greta’s, which is surprising given that I’m actually closer to Lindy’s age.  With that said, some aspects of Lindy’s story arc did resonate with me, but I found Greta’s story more poignant and relatable (those scenes with Marjorie near the end actually moved me to tears).  I also wasn’t too keen on Hailey’s story arc, as I found it too predictable, for one, and it also felt a bit cliché-ish – not to mention her character came across like an angsty teen rather than an adult most of the time, plus some of the scenes where she repeatedly goes out on a limb to justify things that are so obviously not justifiable (or deliberately talks herself into doing the opposite of what she actually wants) started to annoy me after like the fourth or fifth time. Fortunately, there was enough other stuff going on that Hailey’s wishy-washy story arc didn’t become too much of a distraction.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this one, as it had many of the elements that I typically like: a compelling mystery, complicated family dynamics, strong and complexly drawn female characters, emotional depth, atmospheric settings, etc.  With that said, I also understand some of the complaints that other readers/reviewers had about the many plot lines and story arcs that made the story feel a bit too “busy.”  Also, while the writing flowed pretty well for the most part, there were sections where some of the characters would repeatedly debate with themselves (usually in efforts to justify their own actions), which I felt was unnecessary and dragged things down a bit.  I think if some of those extraneous bits were cut and the story tightened up a little more, this would’ve been a much more solid read.  That said, I still recommend adding this one to your summer reading list, as it is a perfect fit for the season.  Reading this also made me interested in Ellen Baker’s backlist, which I definitely hope to explore at some point.