First published 1963
The story unfolds against the backdrop of Ocean Beach Pier and Paradise Island, where characters navigate the changing social landscape of early 1960s leisure culture. The protagonist finds themselves caught between traditional expectations and the emerging freedoms that beach communities represent. As summer progresses, tensions arise between different generations and their approaches to work, play, and personal fulfillment. The pier becomes a meeting place where old and new values collide, forcing characters to choose between conformity and authentic self-expression. Steinem weaves together multiple storylines that explore how people define happiness and success when removed from their usual urban constraints. The novel examines what happens when the structured world meets the informal rhythms of beach life, revealing the deeper conflicts beneath seemingly carefree summer days.
Genres: fiction, romance, literary-fiction, family-life, 20th-century, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: conformity-vs-self-expression, generational-conflict, urban-vs-rural
Setting: Ocean Beach Pier, Paradise Island
Period: 1960s
Hardcover · Viking Adult