Summer People

Summer People by Brian Groh
Fiction
2007 Harper Perennial
Quit on 8/4/11
Rating: DNF



Publisher’s Blurb:

Nathan Empson has just accepted the most unusual summer job of his life. In exchange for serving as a “caretaker” for Ellen Broderick, the eccentric matriarch of an exclusive coastal community, he’ll earn a generous paycheck and gain access to one of the last bastions of old New England wealth. But not everyone in town is welcoming—or even civil. And while he discovers companionship with a philosophical, ex-punk Episcopalian pastor, and more than companionship with the alluring nanny to the pastor’s children, Nathan finds it increasingly difficult to ignore his employer’s unnerving behavior. With each escalating mishap, a new aspect of Ellen’s colorful past comes to light, exposing the secret lives of her old friends, flames, and enemies, as well as the story behind a scandalous incident Nathan must prevent her from repeating. Yet to sound the alarm about her condition would mean leaving his beachside oasis and the romance that may well change him forever.

I fell in love with the cover art for this novel.

I should know better than to judge a book by its cover.

In spite of a couple of enticing paragraphs, the promise of which which lured me into the beach setting, I set this book aside after 50 pages. I didn’t care about any of the characters, especially Nathan who is self-centered and immature. The plot is flat and lifeless and the dialogue dull and boring.