The Summer Guest

 

The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin

Fiction

2005 Delta (first published in 2004)

Finished on September 4, 2020

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

On an evening in late summer, the great financier Harry Wainwright, nearing the end of his life, arrives at a rustic fishing camp in a remote area of Maine. He comes bearing two things: his wish for a day of fishing in a place that has brought him solace for thirty years, and an astonishing bequest that will forever change the lives of those around him.

From the battlefields of Italy to the turbulence of the Vietnam era, to the private battles of love and family, The Summer Guest reveals the full history of this final pilgrimage and its meaning for four people: Jordan Patterson, the haunted young man who will guide Harry on his last voyage out; the camp’s owner Joe Crosby, a Vietnam draft evader who has spent a lifetime “trying to learn what it means to be brave”; Joe’s wife, Lucy, the woman Harry has loved for three decades; and Joe and Lucy’s daughter Kate—the spirited young woman who holds the key to the last unopened door to the past. As their stories unfold, secrets are revealed, courage is tested, and the bonds of love are strengthened. And always center stage is the place itself—a magical, forgotten corner of New England where the longings of the human heart are mirrored in the wild beauty of the landscape.

It's been several years since I listened to the first two installments of Justin Cronin's post-apocalyptic series, The Passage Trilogy. I loved The Passage and enjoyed, but didn't love, The Twelve (click on links for my reviews). I still haven't read The City of Mirrors, mainly because of all the mixed reviews I read when it was first released. I'm not sure I remember enough about The Twelve to jump back into the series at this point. The books are so long that it would be a huge time investment to re-read them if I wanted to refresh my memory before returning to the final installment. 

Having said that, I am so glad I finally picked up my copy of The Summer Guest, which has been lurking on one of my bookshelves for several years. I added it to my 20 Books of Summer reading list and spent the past week or so enjoying Cronin's stand-alone novel about a family-owned New England fishing camp and one of its favorite guests. Told in alternating points-of-view, we come to know the Crosby family, their staff and their friends. The combination of multiple narrators and a non-linear timeline was initially a little confusing, but I eventually got it sorted out. 

Cronin is a gifted writer and his books are peopled with believable and likable characters. The Summer Guest is one that I hope to read again, perhaps on audio as it's narrated by six readers. I love an ensemble cast! I'm also looking forward to reading Mary and O'Neil, Cronin's debut novel which was published in 2001. I hope he's busy writing another novel. I'd say he's due!