Elizabeth Kelly (2)

The publisher of The Miracle on Monhegan Island calls it “another rollicking, summertime family saga” from author Elizabeth Kelly, but I think “rollicking” is a slightly misleading description, unless you’d also call the stories of the dark dysfunctional family summers in We Were Liars by E. Lockhart or Maine by Courtney Sullivan “rollicking.”
Although The Miracle on Monhegan Island overflows with humor and is narrated in its entirety by Ned, a purebred Shih Tzu who is wise show more beyond his years on the subjects of both human nature and dog breeds, the humor is mostly dark. The Monahan family is still recovering from events related to mental illness that broke up the family in the past.
Before Spark, the prodigal adult son, returns after an absence of many years to the family home, he steals a dog as a gift for his young teenaged son Hally on impulse from the backseat of a car, thus changing Ned’s life completely, as Spark’s return to Monhegan Island also changes the life of his son Hally, who has lived alone with his artist uncle and stern preacher grandfather since the death of his mother when he was little. Pastor Ragnar is either a crackpot or inspired by God, but his faithful following grows exponentially when Hally reports seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary, igniting a firestorm of media attention and obsessed visitors to the isolated island.
You don’t have to be either a dog person or a God person to appreciate the dark humor of this story of the fine line between religious fervor and psychosis and the strength of blood lines and family ties. Add this one to your summer reading list, if you don’t mind a few loose ends and unanswered questions to ponder over after you close the book!
For a slightly longer version of this review, please visit the Bay State Reader's Advisory blog. show less

I finished today and I'm still mulling it over. It's good, but I'm not quite sure how to rate it.

The mystery and the villian are creepy and wonderful and the characters are well drawn. I think my struggle was with the time period. The story takes place in 1972 but the whole thing seemed more old fashioned than that. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was in 1952 or some earlier time period.

Bottom line: secrets are nothing but trouble!

Twelve year old Riddle's summer should be all about riding and reading at home on Cape Cod, in the shadow of her larger-than-life parents. The father she adores is running for Congress, and her acerbic and beautiful mother pretty much leaves her alone. But the weight of secrets past and present intrude on the idyll with a sinister and increasingly frightening inevitability. The readers knows how this story must end, but we're inside Riddle's mind and have to see it through. Besides, the show more writing carries the day. Such as "The very thought of it all these years later is still enough to catapult me into the open arms of the nearest exclamation point." show less

Blogged at River City Reading:
I often find myself repeating my preference for well written, intriguing characters over those I find to be likable but stereotypical. Thankfully, many authors are able to blend likability with intrigue, but it has been a long time since I've seen it done with the talent shown by Elizabeth Kelly in The Last Summer of the Camperdowns.

In the summer of 1972, 12-year-old Riddle James Camperdown begins to realize that her father Godfrey, affectionately known as show more Camp, running for Congress will mean big changes for her family. Not only will her ex-movie star mother, Greer, be hosting endless parties in their Cape Cod home, but Riddle will now be thrown into the public eye. What Riddle doesn't realize is how much will change when her neighbor Charlie Delvin goes missing and she chooses to keep the evidence she discovers a secret. Plagued by her decision, Riddle must watch as her own family's secrets are exposed, seemingly tangled in lies from the past.

With their thoroughbred horses and hired help, the characters in The Last Summer of the Camperdowns don't necessarily sound appealing. In fact, from the eyes of 12-year-old Riddle, few of them are. But Elizabeth Kelly brings each character to life with such vivid language, it is almost possible to hear the tones of their voices and see the subtle shades of their hair.

"Dunhill cigarette in hand, her sixth finger, she straightened up and exhaled in my direction, a plume of silky smoke winding through her yellow hair like a gray ribbon. I breathed in deeply of her sophistication, imprinting forever that angular and archly feminine aesthetic native to her but elusive to me."

As the novel progresses, it becomes more clear that each character offers a different, sometimes evolving, element to the story. Michael Delvin, Greer and Camp's longtime friend, brings with him tension and stress, while horse trainer Gula serves as a source of more genuine fear. Those emotions are offset by the funny banter between snarky Greer and struggling Riddle, who endlessly seeks her mother's approval despite her best efforts to act otherwise.

"Sometimes I think we only imagine ourselves. It's hard sometimes, coming face-to-face with your truer nature -- the part that you conceal, even from yourself."

At its core, The Last Summer of the Camperdowns is a novel of self-discovery, honesty and forgiveness. However, the path Elizabeth Kelly takes to the final reveal is fantastically developed and well written, combining bits of Gothic fiction with more modern American wit. show less