Summer People

by Marge Piercy

Book Overview

Dinah, Willie, and Susan have long outlived the scandal associated with their ten-year-old menage-a-trois. Dinah, an avante-garde compler, treasures her independence. Yet it takes Willie's kindness and Susan's fire to sustain her. Willie is a left-wing sculptor in a right-wing age. And Susan, his wife, is a fabric designer who craves glamour, wealth, and the attentions of the summer people who visit Cape Cod every year. Then one summer, the balance...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671678566
• ISBN13: 9780671678562
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Summit Books
• Length: 380 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Nurturing escape

I really enjoyed this book when I read it several years ago, and it comes back to me from time to time. I like her take on what is sustainable and wholesome in life. I enjoyed watching the progress of their characters through the particular journeys we see them take. I loved her Pesach dinner. And the honesty with which she holds her characters. Low-key delight.

terrifically entertaining

Remember the old Agatha Christie books that began with a cast of characters/suspects? This book begins the same way -- which is fitting, since with Piercy the odd mix of characters is what propells the action, and the readers' interest. In this novel, seven or eight characters whirl through twelve-month's time in a small town on Cape Cod. Domestic bliss is challenged by the usual obstacles: envy, longing, and the common desires of the heart. Rifts arise between lovers and strangers come together. Small events set in motion the breakup of families. I didn't find the book especially deep or thought-provoking, but it's definitely entertaining -- something to read at the beach or on rainy evenings.