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The Second Home
By Christina Clancy
St. Martin’s Press, 9781250239341, June 2020, 352pp.

The Short of It:

The Second Home is the type of story you linger in for awhile. Full of nostalgia and set in a classic Cape Cod setting.

The Rest of It:

The Gordon family has spent many summers at their beloved Wellfleet home on the Cape and have made many good memories there. But one summer, seventeen-year-old Ann experiences something that changes how she feels about the beloved beach house and when reality hits her, there’s no way to ever go back to how it was before.

The story goes back and forth in time. To the past, with the events leading up to Ann’s change of heart and then into the present which finds the Wellfleet home about to be put on the market. The decision to put the house on the market is not an easy one for Ann but what she feels is best for her sister Poppy and herself. However, their adopted brother Michael, who has been estranged from the family for years shows up to claim his piece of the house which forces Ann and Poppy to revisit their past.

At first, I had a hard time connecting with these characters. It took awhile for the author to lay the groundwork for the story but once she did, I was hooked. Clancy did an amazing job at setting the tone for this novel. It’s warm when it needs to be and brimming with nostalgia at times which I personally love. It’s also a story of loss and tragedy. There are many bittersweet moments as I turned the pages but the sense of family is overwhelming in a totally good way.

I did not want this story to end. As I got to those final pages I wanted to experience them without any distractions so I drew them out for as long as I could to ensure distraction-free reading. So good.

Have you read this one? Besides the awesome Cape setting, the house itself was so present and enjoyable even with all of its faults. The Second Home will be on my list of favorites at the end of the year.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

The Mother-In-Law
By Sally Hepworth
St. Martin’s Griffin, 9781250120939, March 2020, 368pp.

*No Spoilers*

The Short of It:

Whether you can relate to having a Mother-In-Law of your own, or not, this book has you flipping the pages. It’s one of those easy, fast, reads that I am reaching for like crazy during this pandemic.

The Rest of It:

The story is told by the two main characters and alternates between the past and present. When Lucy meets Diana, everything she has heard about Mother-In-Laws is put to the side. After all, she’s not even married to Ollie yet and she’s a pretty agreeable person. Surely, they will get along.

But, Diana is a little different. She’s guarded and although she looks perfectly pleasant and is polite to a fault, there is something off putting about her. She’s a little cold, perhaps. Even to her own children, Ollie and Nettie, she lacks affection and Lucy immediately picks up on it but when she marries Ollie the deal is sealed. Diana is her Mother-In-Law whether she likes it or not.

As the story unfolds, Diana and Tom are asked countless times to help their kids out financially. Although Tom is up for it and certainly has the money to hand out, Diana doesn’t believe in handouts. She believes in hard work and struggle. This is a running theme throughout the story.

One day, Diana ends up dead. How did it happen? Why? Is there more to the story than meets the eye?

Yes.

On top of all the family drama, there is the question of what happened to Diana. This family has a lot of secrets and you know that always makes for good reading. Although I felt like the ending was a tad rushed, I enjoyed this book a lot and read it in just a couple of sittings.

You wouldn’t necessarily think of this book as a club read but there were questions in the back and I must admit, they were pretty thought provoking.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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