It's Summer... and the Reading Is Great!

Courtesy of the , here are some summer reads that will be perfect for the beach or the hammock!

Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks. Brooks (author of such great reads as People of the Book & Year of Wonders) is back with a tale that begins on Martha’s Vineyard. As Brooks says in her author’s note: “This is a work of imagination, inspired by the life of Caleb Cheeshahteamauk, a member of the Wôpanâak tribe of Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard), born circa 1646, and the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College.” Highly recommended for the story, the setting, and the great writing. One year I think this would be a great town wide read.

Cape Cod Noir edited by David L. Ulin. This is another in Akashic Books Noir series (Moscow Noir, Boston Noir, etc.) only every story is set right here on Cape Cod! It begins with a story set in Falmouth and written by former FHS english teacher William Hastings, which will make you think twice before you set foot in another Falmouth restaurant. Each author has a noir tale to tell of the dark side of Cape Cod.

Croaked: an Edgar Rowdey Cape Cod Mystery by Carol Verburg. This is Verburg’s first novel, but she knows her subject, as the former producer for the Edward Gorey theatricals on Cape Cod. Edgar Rowdy is an anagram for Edward Gorey, and he is our sleuth and as with the real life Edward Gorey lives in Yarmouth and spends lots of time at Jack’s Outback as he tries to solve the crime.

The Swimming Pool by Holly LeCraw. Also set on Cape Cod this novel was described by Publisher’s Weekly as “a story of deep and searing love, between siblings and lovers, but most powerfully, between parents and their children.” Or as the publisher says: “A heartbreaking affair, an unsolved murder, an explosive romance: welcome to summer on the Cape in this powerful debut.” You’ll be so involved you will forget to jump in the water! Now available in paperback.

The Bramble Bush by Charles Mergendahl. This is a 1958 beach read, which originally caught my attention because the story is located in the fictional town of East Norton, which essentially stands in for Falmouth. There are mentions of the actual town of Falmouth as well as Mashpee, and the main character is a doctor at the local hospital. (FYI … Falmouth Hospital opened in 1963, but according to The Book of Falmouth the idea for a hospital was conceived in 1955.)

The novel was poorly reviewed in The New York Times, but reading it while sitting in the town of Falmouth makes it more riveting than you might think. Not to mention our hero’s trips to New Bedford and Nantucket. Here is the beginning of the review:

“Everything happens to Dr. Guy Montford. To begin with, one of his best friends, Larry McFie, is brought back to the Cape Cod town of East Norton dying of Hodgkin’s disease. Guy can’t save his life, but he can offer heart’s balm to Larry’s wife, Margreth – a gesture that ripens into full-fledged and guilty love. To complicate matters – and Mr. Mergendahl’s story – Guy, driven by Larry’s suffering, gives him an intentional overdose of narcotics, is tried for homicide and acquitted. At last he and Margreth are free to marry.” As it says on the front of the paperback edition: “Makes Peyton Place look like a book of hymns.” This is Cape Cod Noir retro!