The Beach at Summerly: A Novel

Written by Beatriz Williams

Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

""There are few more skilled practitioners of the craft of summer fiction than Beatriz Williams."" — The New York Times Book Review

A ravishing summer read from New York Times bestseller Beatriz Williams, sweeping readers back to a mid-century New England rich with secrets and Cold War intrigue.

June 1946. As the residents of Winthrop Island prepare for the first summer season after the sacrifice of war, a glamorous new figure moves into the guest cottage at Summerly, the idyllic seaside estate of the wealthy Peabody family. To Emilia Winthrop, daughter of Summerly’s year-round caretaker and a descendant of the island’s settlers, Olive Rainsford opens a window into a world of shining possibility. While Emilia spent the war years caring for her incapacitated mother, Olive traveled the world, married fascinating men, and involved herself in political causes. She’s also the beloved aunt of the two surviving Peabody sons, Amory and Shep, with whom Emilia has a tangled romantic history.

As the summer wears on, Emilia develops a deep rapport with Olive, who urges her to leave the island for a life of adventure, while romance blossoms with the sturdy and honorable Shep. But the heady promise of Peabody patronage is blown apart by the arrival of Sumner Fox, an FBI agent who demands Emilia’s help to capture a Soviet agent who’s transmitting vital intelligence on the West’s atomic weapon program from somewhere inside the Summerly estate.

April 1954. Eight years later, Summerly is boarded up and Emilia has rebuilt her shattered life as a professor at Wellesley College, when shocking news arrives from Washington—the traitor she helped convict is about to be swapped for an American spy imprisoned in the Soviet Union, but with a mysterious condition only Emilia can fulfill. A reluctant Emilia is summoned to CIA headquarters, where she’s forced to confront the harrowing consequences of her actions that fateful summer, and a choice that could destroy the Peabody family—and Emilia’s chance for redemption—all over again.

""Grand and gripping...shot through with suspense, romance, and glorious, beach-laden locales. I could not put it down.""--Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The Mitford Affair

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jun 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9780063020870

Beatriz Williams

Beatriz Williams is the bestselling author of over a dozen novels, including The Beach at Summerly, Our Woman in Moscow, and The Summer Wives, as well as four other novels cowritten with Lauren Willig and Karen White. A native of Seattle, she graduated from Stanford University and earned an MBA in finance from Columbia University. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.

Reviews for The Beach at Summerly

[MELISSA GREGG · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thoroughly enjoyed this intriguing novel! It’s a Definite good summer read!

[lisa Dorr · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found the plot in this book slow and a little predictable.

[Amber Johnson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The narrator’s range and instinct for intonation are the perfect fit for this story. From precocious child to jaded but passionate academic, to half-drunk blue-blood arrogant prick, she nails every character. She even makes the 1950’s slang feel natural—no easy task with lingo like “golly” and “nuts to them.” I will be seeking out more of her comforting, engaging, warm-but-not-sweet, slightly husky voice.

The story is well-written, well-paced, and compelling. Williams gives enough information in each chapter to keep the listener feeling grounded but curious. You know what’s happening at the moment, but want to know what happened way back when. And that backstory—which is really the main story—builds little by little, and beautifully, to a complex climax, and lovely, haunting conclusion. It’s also historically intriguing and seemingly accurate, and highlights an era in American history that the average citizen maybe ought to know more about.

My last note: Though it’s not the main thread, pregnancy and motherhood are recurring themes im the book. I have never before come across an author who writes about pregnancy in this beautiful and compelling way. Her words resonated with my own experience in becoming a mother, much more so than all the stereotypical pain and misery bitterness that so often surrounds the subject in contemporary women’s literature.

[Mariel McEwan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The book is great. I loved the authors use of language. An impressive writer. Looking for another by her v

[Betty Stewart · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Facinating breadcrumbs of detail lead readers to a crescendo ending! Best read of the summer for me.