"Recently widowed Beth Newton returns to Nantucket for the summer with her teenage twins to continue a family tradition and to keep a promise her late husband made to another teen "--

A tremendously appealing and mordantly funny novel for fans of Richard Russo and Curtis Sittenfeld, about friendship, compassion, and social privilege. Summer People tells the story of Nathan Empson, a young college dropout and aspiring graphic novelist who has just accepted the most unusual job of his life. In exchange for serving as a summer "caretaker" for Ellen Broderick, the eccentric matriarch of Brightonfield Cove, Maine, Nathan will earn a generous salary and gain access to one of the last bastions of old New England wealth—an exclusive coastal community the likes of which he has never known. It seems at first like easy money: accompanying Ellen to the immaculate Alnombak Golf and Tennis Club, or joining her for an evening of cocktails and conversation at a neighbor's mansion overlooking the anchored yachts of Albans Bay. But not everyone in the community is welcoming—or even civil—to someone they regard as an interloper. So Nathan finds solace in the companionship of a philosophical, ex-punk Episcopalian pastor, and the alluring nanny of the pastor's children, a feisty, dark-eyed beauty named Leah. Nathan invites Leah for walks and late-night picnics on the beach, yet as his relationship with her deepens, he finds it difficult to ignore his employer's unexpectedly unnerving behavior. With each escalating mishap, a new aspect of Ellen's colorful past comes to light, exposing the secret lives of her old friends, flames, and enemies, as well as the story behind a scandalous incident Nathan must prevent her from repeating—however inept his efforts may be. In this big-hearted, immensely satisfying debut novel, Nathan must contend with competitors for Leah's affection and with an increasing suspicion that Ellen needs more help than he can provide. But sounding the alarm over Ellen's condition would mean leaving her beachside home, his summer job, and the romance that may well change his life.

"Things get more twisted at every turn, with enough lies and betrayals to fuel a whole season of soap operas...readers will be hooked."—Publishers Weekly on Elin Hilderbrand's Summer People Every summer the Newton family retreats to their beloved home on Nantucket for three months of sunshine, cookouts, and bonfires on the beach. But this summer will not be like any other. When Arch Newton, a prominent New York attorney, dies in a plane crash on his way home from a business trip, his beautiful widow, Beth, can barely keep things together. Above all, though, she decides that she must continue the family tradition of going to Nantucket, and at the same time fulfill a promise that Arch made before he died. Beth invites Marcus, the son of Arch's final and most challenging client, to spend the summer with her and her teenage twins, Winnie and Garrett, who have mixed reactions to sharing their special summer place with this stranger. Always a place of peace before, Nantucket becomes the scene of roiling emotions and turbulent passions as Marcus, Winnie, and Garrett learn about loss, first love, and betrayal. And when they stumble upon a shocking secret from Beth's past, they must keep it from destroying the family they've been trying so hard to heal.

Kelly Link's new collection of stories explores everything from the essence of ghosts to the nature of love. And hurricanes, astronauts, evil twins, bootleggers, Ouija boards, iguanas, The Wizard of Oz, superheroes, the pyramids. . . The Summer People is a bite-sized sample of Link's incomparable writing, telling the story of Fran, her friend Ophelia, and their adventures at the house belonging to the mysterious and rarely glimpsed 'summer people'. As the tales Fran tells about the house and its inhabitants become ever stranger and more magical, it gets harder and harder to tell what is real and what exists only in her imagination, and the lines between truth and fantasy become deliciously blurred.

Sheriff Ray Elkins in the debut of the thriller series.

For three Cape Cod residents, the influx of summer visitors is no more than a minor nuisance—until it brings a man who threatens the balance of their delicate relationship For more than a decade, Dinah, Susan, and Susan’s husband, Willie—artists and neighbors in a small Cape Cod town—have enjoyed an unconventional, but deeply satisfying, three-way relationship. When the annual summer crowd flocks to the Cape, Dinah misses her quiet afternoons composing music in the woods, and Willie, a sculptor, puts aside his own work to do carpentry jobs on lavish vacation homes. Susan, though, envies the glamorous lives of the summer residents. And one visitor, Tyrone Burdock, a wealthy and seductive financier, offers her an enticing glimpse into his world that may jolt the foundation of her ménage à trois. The clash between moneyed newcomers and the soulful artists who live on the Cape year-round shakes the threesome’s external world and the bonds holding them together as they see their bohemian enclave becoming a bourgeois retreat. Bestselling author Marge Piercy skillfully navigates this unique landscape with vivid details and an eye for emotional complexity, bringing these singular characters to life as their relationship undergoes profound changes that will resonate long after the summer people have left.