I was excited to kick off my summer reading The High Season so close to Memorial Day. The premise sounded like a great summer feel good story of a woman finding herself when life insists on throwing curveballs. I fell in love with the town of Orient on “the wrong Fork” of Long Island which smells “like nowhere else in the world in the summer: salt, sea, lavender, pine, rugosa, lilies.” This small town’s claim to fame is that is actively works to differentiate themselves from the aristocratic Hamptons of South Fork and choose to embrace ideals of art, shop at a farmer’s market, and resist allowing personal aircrafts onto their slice of heaven.
Ruthie works as the director of the Belfry, a local museum in a renovated barn (love!) that, thanks to her, holds art classes for local children, has annual town picnics, among other activities. She has the house of her dreams, but, in order to keep it, she rents it out during the summer- the “Summer Bummer,” according to her teenage daughter, Jem.
Unfortunately, as much as I loved the setting of the story, I had difficulties connecting with the characters. There were a lot of characters, that I sometimes had trouble remembering, that were making bad decision after bad decision with very few redeeming qualities and I just wanted to sit them down and have them try to talk it out. The main issue with most of the characters was their total lack of communication as they cut themselves off from their support system. There were bad mothers galore, in the present and reflected upon from the past, teenage drama, a business coup- you name it, it was present in this fateful summer in Orient.
This would actually be a great television mini-series if there was more time to flesh out the other characters and have them interact rather than cut ties so quickly. If you are looking for a high-drama summer story with twists and turns galore as the cast of characters tries to find their way, this is the one for you.
Overall, Judy Blundell can definitely weave a plot and I enjoyed seeing the pieces fall into place as autumn approached. I also appreciated the epilogue-like ending highlighting the development and adjustments of their lives after their fateful summer.
Ruthie works as the director of the Belfry, a local museum in a renovated barn (love!) that, thanks to her, holds art classes for local children, has annual town picnics, among other activities. She has the house of her dreams, but, in order to keep it, she rents it out during the summer- the “Summer Bummer,” according to her teenage daughter, Jem.
Unfortunately, as much as I loved the setting of the story, I had difficulties connecting with the characters. There were a lot of characters, that I sometimes had trouble remembering, that were making bad decision after bad decision with very few redeeming qualities and I just wanted to sit them down and have them try to talk it out. The main issue with most of the characters was their total lack of communication as they cut themselves off from their support system. There were bad mothers galore, in the present and reflected upon from the past, teenage drama, a business coup- you name it, it was present in this fateful summer in Orient.
This would actually be a great television mini-series if there was more time to flesh out the other characters and have them interact rather than cut ties so quickly. If you are looking for a high-drama summer story with twists and turns galore as the cast of characters tries to find their way, this is the one for you.
Overall, Judy Blundell can definitely weave a plot and I enjoyed seeing the pieces fall into place as autumn approached. I also appreciated the epilogue-like ending highlighting the development and adjustments of their lives after their fateful summer.