The Last Summer of the Camperdowns

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 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."

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 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 show more 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

I wanted to love the Last Summer of the Camperdowns by Elizabeth Kelly but I kept getting pulled out of the story by the writing style. I could excuse some of the sophisticated language as the story is told by an adult Riddle Camperdown looking back to the summer she was twelve and thought only about Trixie Belden books and spending time with her horse and dog. Except the narration did very little to evoke a child’s thoughts. The phrasing was beautiful, but over-written enough that it brought me out of the story to admire the language.

At the heart of the book is secrets. The Camperdowns are a unusual family, the father is running for political office but he has a secret about his past that he is trying to keep, the mother, an aging show more film star with her searing one liners is contending with an old flame and neither one seems to actually take the time to see that their daughter is struggling with something. Riddle has seen something that has terrified her and she is keeping quiet about it. Riddle watches from the sidelines as her family unravels and their secrets are exposed.

In the end, although I couldn’t love this book, I did enjoy the story and was satisfied with how it was resolved. The Last Summer of the Camperdowns managed to be both spooky and smart, and other than my issue with what felt like an author trying too hard to impress, it was a good book. show less

3 stars (2 ½ if they had half stars…)

I found this a little hard to get into.. I guess maybe it was the writing style or maybe the characters or maybe just me. I did however love the name of the main character…12 year old Riddle James Camperdown, called Jimmy by her dad. And named after Jimmy Hoffa, quite the name for a little girl to tote around.
The story takes place in 1972 on Cape Cod with Riddle and her self centered and caustic parents, the mother Greer who I must say I did somewhat enjoy her dry, nasty wit and her loud overbearing father who is running for office but, most of the time I just felt sorry for 12 year old Riddle.
Riddle witnesses a crime in her neighbors barn and her inability to do or say anything about it is what show more keeps the story moving along even if it is rather slowly…
Everyone has secrets in this book and they are all hiding or keeping them for or from someone else, and this can have interesting and devastating consequences for everyone involved.
all in all it is a good, if somewhat slow read. show less

The Short of It:

Money, greed, power and a young girl by the name of Riddle.

The Rest of It:

It’s 1972 and twelve-year-old Riddle James is not at all pleased over what the summer holds for her. Her father Godfrey, affectionately called Camp, is running for Congress and her mother Greer, a once famous actress, is the all too present figure in Riddle’s world of horses and fox hunts. With the pressure of running for office, Riddle’s father finds himself consumed with the process, and Riddle’s mother Greer spends her days being Greer. This includes open criticism of her daughter, Riddle and anyone she comes in contact with. What Riddle doesn’t anticipate, is witnessing a murder. Cape Cod’s idyllic location is literally shattered show more by what she witnesses and her decision to keep it to herself is even more shocking.

Things get really juicy when Michael Devlin, a friend of Camp’s dating back to their time fighting in WW II, threatens to uncover a secret that could jeopardize Camp’s campaign for office. The situation is especially touchy because Devlin was once engaged to Greer, which has always caused animosity between the two men so when Devlin’s son goes missing, Camp is the first person Devlin suspects in his son’s disappearance.

This book is all parties, glitz and glamour with a lot of nastiness thrown in. At first, I despised this family and could not remember a more miserable bunch since the time I read Wuthering Heights. At the half way point though, they started to intrigue me. Riddle is a great character. At twelve, she’s somewhat innocent to what is going on around her but at the same time, she possesses an edge. Probably due to the fact that she spends all of her time surrounded by adults and not kids her own age.

I can’t say that this is your typical summer read. Many might pick it up for its Cape Cod setting, thinking it’s an easy breezy read. It is definitely not that. But if you like being around wealth and all the joys and problems associated with it, then you’ll enjoy the setting as there is plenty to sink your teeth into. But what you’ll enjoy most is Riddle. She’s charming, wise beyond her years yet untainted by the idiocy around her. And dare I say it? You might enjoy the numerous jabs that Kelly takes at high society in general. The names of these characters were almost too much for me at one point, Greer, Gula, Godfrey and Gin? But in the end, they fit.

If you want something a little different to end the summer with, this might be a good choice for you. It’s a lot more complex than I thought it would be, and who can resist a Cape Cod setting? No one.

For more reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter. 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!

Enjoyed the book when I think about the overall story but it really dragged while reading it especially after about 75 pages and then until the last 50 pages. Enjoyed the interactions between Riddle and her parents with how embarrassing they were. Could relate to how she felt almost inferior to her actress mother. The vocabulary was at times hard reading but loved the times when there was humor. Partially had the mystery figured out but still amazed and surprised at the ending.