Summer on Highland Beach: A Novel

by Sunny Hostin Narrated by January LaVoy

Overview

The View*cohost and three-time Emmy Award winner Sunny Hostin transports readers to Highland Beach in the captivating third novel of her New York Times bestselling Summer Beach series.

In this awakening, spirited novel, Sunny Hostin*celebrates family, friendship, and community and reminds us of the importance of the legacies of our collective past and finding one's way in the world.

Founded in the late 1800s by the son of Frederick Douglass, Highland Beach along the Chesapeake Bay is the oldest Black resort community in America. Inside this proud and secluded beach community of about 100 private homes is Olivia Jones's legacy.

But Oliva's legacy comes with thorns-intertwined are secrets of her aunt's death; a controlling grandmother who is determined to crush anyone or anything that will interfere with her son's political career; and a father who wants to rebuild the family he rejected decades ago.

In the midst of tense family drama, Olivia must decide if she wants to return to the beautiful life she's created in Sag Harbor-with the neighbors and wonderful man who've become central to her happiness-or finally achieve her dream of having a family and home to call her own in Highland Beach.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Hostin has penned another deliciously soapy beach read about elite Black beach communities . . . [the novel] touches on themes of mental health, family history, and the sometimes stifling reality of small-town living.” — Booklist

“Hostin’s debut novel is aspirational escapism at its best, balancing an idyllic setting and lush, evocative language with emotional heft and adroit social commentary… Hostin’s story is a vast, intricate and ultimately rewarding one about love, family and self-fulfillment... In short, this book is summer incarnate.” — New York Times Book Review on Summer on the Bluffs

“A complicated, memorable tale of family, allegiances, secrets and summertime.” — Good Morning America on Summer on the Bluffs

“The Emmy Award–winning lawyer and journalist invites readers to the exclusive Black beach community of Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, where the money is old, the secrets are deadly, and summer is more of a sport than a season…Think The Undoing with a hint of melanin, where everyone’s wearing $300 sandals.” — Essence on Summer on the Bluffs

“The highly anticipated summer must-read from the talented co-host of The View is finally here… No one, including the reader, is prepared for the feelings and secrets exchanged in this novel about love, family, and the courage to make the hardest of decisions.” — Shondaland on Summer on the Bluffs

“This glorious piece of summer fiction takes us to Oak Bluffs, a slice of the island that’s been home to the Black community elite for summers since the 1600s. Come for the ethereal setting and beautifully drawn characters, stay for the family dynamics, personal secrets and wisdom revealed.” — Boston Herald

“Emmy-winning co-host of The View, Sunny Hostin invites readers to Martha’s Vineyard in her fiction debut…what follows is a summer full of secrets that puts family ties to the ultimate test.” — Woman's World

“Bestselling author and The View cohost Sunny Hostin has penned the ultimate beach read in Summer on the Bluffs.” — Popsugar

"Summer on the Bluffs by the Emmy-award winning Sunny Hostin is a delicious, shimmering novel about the lives of Amelia Vaux Tanner and her three, grown-up godchildren. I was riveted by these fascinating, complicated women, and looked forward every day to opening Hostin's luminous novel and escaping, through its pages, to the golden dunes of Martha's Vineyard."  — Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters

Kirkus Reviews

2024-05-04
An elite Black community in coastal Maryland learns that the mayor has a “secret love child.”

Having set her previous Summer Beach books in the enclaves of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, and Sag Harbor, New York, The View host Hostin closes up shop in Highland Beach, a resort community founded in the late 19th century by Frederick Douglass’ son. According to its website, it is "residential only, does not offer opportunities for tourism and cannot accommodate visits from the general public." Hostin definitely conveys that attitude as her character Olivia Jones pays a hesitant first visit to the snooty town, whose mayor is her long-estranged father, Charles "CJ" Jones, whose reelection will be compromised by her arrival. (Olivia’s complicated backstory is explained hastily and will remain opaque to those who haven’t read the first two books.) She is also meeting for the first time her evil grandmother, Christine Douglass-Jones (that Douglass), a woman who sees the death of two of her three children as more a reputation problem than a cause for mourning. Don’t feel sorry for me, she tells an old enemy, "I have money, class, and I’ve traveled to places you’ve only dreamed of." Maybe this is meant to be a laugh line, but some of the wooden dialogue, the tabloid-type gossip about Frederick Douglass, and the oddly placed, uninspiring descriptions of people’s attire are not. In one laugh-out-loud moment, a deus ex machinacharacter storms into a town meeting “wearing an ankle-length persimmon dress.” No designer or anything! As in previous books, characters rely on therapy to deal with their messy lives and romances (Olivia has managed to screw up a good thing she had going in Sag Harbor). The wisdom of Olivia’s therapist, Dr. LaGrange, saves the day: “Life is a journey. You hit a milestone and then you move on to your next goal. The work never really ends. Nor should it.” This beach trilogy, however, should.

Lacks the zest of the earlier books and doubles down on the weak writing.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159610515
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/28/2024
Series:	Summer Beach Series , #3
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	721,639

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