First published 2024
Rocky stands in the familiar Cape Cod rental where her family has spent twenty summers. This year feels different. Her teenage children pull away while her parents show their age. Her body betrays her with menopause's sudden rages and sadness. The cottage's broken plumbing mirrors the family's hidden cracks. When unexpected events trigger memories of past summers, Rocky finds herself reliving moments of joy and loss from decades before. She watches her younger self navigate the same beach house, the same family dynamics, the same careful dance around unspoken truths. As the week unfolds, Rocky realizes she can no longer protect her loved ones from the secrets she has carried. The summer that was meant to preserve tradition becomes the moment when everything must change.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Cape Cod
Period: 20th-century
229 pages · Hardcover · Harper