K.L. Walther returns to Martha’s Vineyard in her new novel for young adult readers, “The Summer of Second Chances” (Sourcebooks Fire). It’s easy enough to guess why Walther decided to write about young love on the Island again. Her 2021 novel, “The Summer of Broken Rules,” which was also set on the Vineyard, was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. So why not book a return trip?
“I write a lot about grief, and the Vineyard feels like the safest place to delve into such an ever-changing feeling. ‘The Summer of Broken Rules’ is an ode to my late father, who could never get enough of the Island, even working here one summer in college. Now ‘The Summer of Second Chances’ pays tribute to my grandmother,” Walther explained in an email.
Walther doesn’t simply use the Island for eye candy. She has been spending summers on the Vineyard since she was a child, and clearly knows the terrain well. While “The Summer of Second Chances” hits well-known hotspots, like Jaws Bridge, it also takes readers down Oyster Watcha Road into a more exclusive enclave, and onto the undeveloped farm of an old-time Vineyard family.
“The Vineyard is, and forever will be, my happy place,” Walther has said. “I have three decades’ worth of cherished memories, from long days on the beach to twilight tractor rides to laughter-filled dinners in Alchemy … If magic exists, it lives on this Island.”
“The Summer of Second Chances” explores young love, loss, and feeling like a foreigner in your own family. Olivia Lupo has taken a year off before starting college to spend time with her beloved grandmother, Annie, who helped raise her after her mother died. Annie’s memory is rapidly slipping away, and she now lives in an assisted living facility. It is the summer before Olivia is supposed to start her freshman year, and the thought of leaving Annie is tearing her apart. To make matters worse, she is expected to go to Martha’s Vineyard for three weeks in August for her stepmother’s family reunion.
Her mother died when Olivia was 7, and her father, a pilot, remarried a few years later and had twins with his new wife, Erica, whose family is gathering on the Vineyard: “Life in the Lupo family was about prioritizing the twins. The house which my dad and Erica ended up buying? It had five bedrooms, the smallest of which was gifted to me.”
Even the way Erica talks to Olivia about her father makes her feel like an outsider. “It was always Chris, not your dad. It sounded like I wasn’t his daughter; instead, I was just some adult who lived with them, an au pair, perhaps.”
Before Olivia leaves for the Vineyard, her grandmother tells her that the Island has a special place in her heart. Olivia thought she had heard all the stories of Annie’s travels, but doesn’t recall her ever mentioning the Vineyard. This conversation propels Olivia into action to find out more, and sets the stage for a story of young love, the second story of young love in the novel. The primary story is between Olivia and the swoony Connor, who was hired to take care of the younger kids during the family reunion, and ends up sharing a bedroom — albeit with bunk beds — with Olivia.
Since this is Olivia’s first trip to the Vineyard, Walther has an opportunity to describe the Island with fresh eyes and exacting details, and she does so with an insider’s knowledge and, thankfully, without making it feel like she’s a tour guide driving a bus of tourists to Aquinnah.
Walther, who is only 30, is already the author of seven contemporary romance novels for young adults, and a best-selling author. In interviews she has talked about being an avid pop culture fan, and her books are sprinkled with pop culture references that are clearly connecting with readers.
Welcome back to the Vineyard, K.L. Walther.
K.L. Walther will be signing books at Edgartown Books on May 23 at 1 pm.