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Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
July 28 - August 3, 2005 Edition
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Print: "Summer Harbor"- Reticent lovers in an engaging narrative July 28, 2005
Writing 101: Mystery novels are plot driven. Romance novels are character driven. There is, of course, some overlap. No amount of plot can carry a book with poorly fleshed out characters, and the most engaging people can’t keep the readers turning pages in a romance that has no conflict. But, in the end, we have to really engage with John and Mary to care if they work out their differences, overcome their obstacles, and defeat their demons to live happily ever after. This is where Susan Wilson shines. In her newest romance novel, “Summer Harbor,” we connect so thoroughly with the characters that we frequently want to wring their necks. This is terrific writing. There is no outside plot conspiring to keep the lovers apart – in fact, events scheme to bring them together. It’s their own reticence, their own failure to reveal their secrets, their own uncleared misunderstandings, that stand in the way of their happiness. But, they’re such nice people that, well…. In “Summer Harbor,” Kiley Harris is cajoled by her parents to return to Hawke’s Cove, the summer paradise of her youth, where she’s refused to visit since her late teenage years after a traumatic incident drove her away. Her assignment is to prepare the family’s beach house for sale to finance her son Will’s college education. Will, who’s never been to Hawke’s Cove, sees the trip as an opportunity to discover some truths about his heritage and his secretive mother. Will doesn’t know who his father is. Enter Grainger Egan, the now-estranged best friend to Kiley. Ms. Wilson reveals, in bite-sized chunks, the idyllic childhood summers Kiley spent with Grainger and another boy, Mack, and how growing up changed the dynamic until the two best friends became rivals for the love of the third, Kiley. Now, there’s another dynamic. Will has lost the trust of his mother through a foolish lapse in judgment. He’s searching for a father figure and Grainger reluctantly accepts the role. Kiley is wary of Will’s relationship with Grainger, fearing too many secrets will come to light. Unfounded guilt and anger smolder between Kiley and Grainger — victims of their own secrecy and fears. And all of it would be solved if they’d all just talk to each other. This reserve – it’s not a plot device. There’s nothing phony or contrived about it. It generates spontaneously from the complexities of Ms. Wilson’s characters and the results of the traumas they’ve experienced. Will could regain his mother’s trust by explaining what prompted this adamantly anti-drug teen to indulge in a little pot smoking. “They’d all been to Lori Amandie’s party. Lori was his girlfriend all senior year, and when she brought him outside to the back porch that night, he expected she just wanted a little private time. Instead, she said, ‘We need to back off a little, Will. We’re heading in two different directions, and I don’t want to hold you to a commitment you might regret.’” After Lori breaks up with him, he runs into D.C., not even a friend, just an acquaintance. “D.C. winked at him, oblivious to the anger on Will’s face, and put his hand in the deep pocket of his baggy green pants, showing Will just the edge of the plastic zipper bag. It seemed the perfect retaliation. Lori was madly anti-drug, president of the high school’s chapter of Teens Against Drugs. Screw her.” That’s how Will gets busted. It’s not an excuse, just a reason, but if revealed to Kiley, it would relieve her of the fear that her once- sensible son, readying for college, would be indulging in other risky undertakings once he was beyond her supervision. But he can’t tell her. Kiley has long ago set the standard for concealment in her household – answering Will’s frequent queries about the identity of his father with her stock reply, “He was the love of my life.” There are few surprises in “Summer Harbor.” We, unlike the characters involved, are privy to many of the secrets. What we don’t know, we can fathom in short order. However, the lack of surprise in no way flaws the book. We so like these people, we delight in the way Kiley, Grainger, and Will begin to trust, and in watching the layers of resistance peel away. We, as readers, feel poised at the elbows of these very appealing people, ready to cry, “Don’t hold back! Spill it, already!” And that makes for a great read. |
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