Summerlong: A Novel

It's Grinnell, Iowa, home of the liberal arts college, where pools and marriages are cooling off in an unusually hot July. The cast, all characters:

- Don Lowry, realtor, and his wife Claire, author of one novel ten years prior, and their kids are being evicted from their home.
- Amelia Benitez-Coors (ABC), former Grinnell student, returns to seek her lover Philly, dead in an accident, in the spirit world.
- Gil, retired professor who has courted both Claire and ABC when they were his students, develops dementia and moves to a nursing home
- Gil's son Charlie, an actor, returns from the west coast to clean out the family home in preparation for sale
- Ruth, an elderly widow, shares her home with and is cared for by ABC, and promises to show more guide her to her lost Philly as long as she provides Ruth with enough weed to keep her happy and comfortable.

It's a big mess and everyone is entangled. The most startling factor is Don and Claire's ongoing sexual prowess and energy, which has only improved over the course of their marriage, despite the fact that they are on the verge of divorce.

You'd be hard pressed to find a better summer read. Hilarious parts, thoughtful parts, ridiculous characters acting out in believable situations, and a resolution in the Minnesota woods make this a most satisfying read from the author of two other fine novels.

Quote:" In college, he played Iago. And wasn't that Iago's real motivation? Boredom? Not revenge for a passed-over promotion, but an interest in how far terrible things could go?" show less

I had never heard of this author nor anything about the book before I started reading it. Sometimes this is a good thing. In this case it was. I had now expectations. It is an interesting take on a marriage that is imploding, and adds some offbeat sideline players to the mix. I do think it is helpful to be at least in your late 30's or older and married to appreciate the book. The story is a little predictable, and things do all kind of come together to neatly but it was a very good book.

The Short of It:

A very dark look at marriage in the midst of a midlife crisis. Heavily laced with tension but so hard to look away.

The Rest of It:

See that cover? Looking at it now, I’d say it hints at the trouble lurking between its pages but I bet a lot of readers picked this one up thinking it was a fun beach read. It is SO not that.

Nope. This one is about a marriage falling apart during a long, hot summer in Iowa. Don has a secret. His failures as a real estate agent have taken their toll and due to the insurmountable debt he’s created, he’s about to lose his home. Claire, aware of their financial troubles but not fully in the know over just how bad it’s gotten, doesn’t take the news all that well and becomes attracted to show more Charlie, who happens to be in town dealing with some property after his father’s death.

One evening, Don takes a walk in the neighborhood and meets a young woman who goes by the name ABC. She’s young and vibrant but grieving over a loss of her own. She’s working as a caretaker for a pot-smoking pistol of a lady who’s seen a thing or two in her day. ABC invites him in to light up and what seems totally out of character for Don, suddenly becomes a regular thing.

Don and Claire have so many issues. As parents, they find themselves so completely absorbed with their own problems, that they both end up leaving the house one night only to realize the next morning that they left their kids unattended.

Surprisingly, ABC and Charlie also have their own issues to deal with. These four people hook-up with each other, sometimes in surprising combinations but they are all searching for the same thing. Love, acceptance, redemption, peace.

I didn’t like Claire. She’s self-absorbed, bitchy and intent on being miserable. She’s one of THOSE people but sadly, I could relate to some of what she was going through. As Don tries his hardest to make things right, she continues to push him away and I wanted to slap her for it. Yeah, I guess I liked Don a lot.

I really loved this book. It’s dark because it paints such a real picture of a marriage in crisis but in between the crusty bits there’s hope, too. I love how the characters play off of one another. It’s so natural and effortless even though as a reader sometimes I caught myself thinking, “No! Don’t do it!”

Summer is typically a time for lighter, fluffier reads but not for me. I prefer to sink my teeth into something with a little bite and this book satisfied all my wants.

For more reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter. show less

In the end, I did enjoy this books quite a bit. Initially... I wasn't sure I would. While I loved the setting (small midwestern college town and other places in the region in which I have some familiarity), I didn't really like any of the characters that much. Having finished the book: I'm still not sure I really liked the characters that much, but I felt more sympathy for them. It's a good summer beach read with a bit of drama, emotion, and insight into life, love, growing older, and the beauty of connections between people.

I had never heard of this author nor anything about the book before I started reading it. Sometimes this is a good thing. In this case it was. I had now expectations. It is an interesting take on a marriage that is imploding, and adds some offbeat sideline players to the mix. I do think it is helpful to be at least in your late 30's or older and married to appreciate the book. The story is a little predictable, and things do all kind of come together too neatly, but it was a very good book.

In the sweltering heat of one summer in a small Midwestern town, Claire and Don Lowry discover that married life isn't quite what they'd predicted.

One night Don, a father of two, leaves his house for an evening stroll, only to wake up the next morning stoned and lying in a hammock next to a young woman he barely knows. Meanwhile, his wife, Claire, leaves the house to go on a midnight run—only to find herself bumming cigarettes and beer outside the all-night convenience store.

As the summer lingers and the temperature rises, this quotidian town's adults grow wilder and more reckless while their children grow increasingly confused. Claire, Don, and their neighbors and friends find themselves on an existential odyssey, exploring the most show more puzzling quandaries of marriage and maturity. When does a fantasy become infidelity? When does compromise incite resentment? When does routine become boring monotony? Can Claire and Don survive everything that befalls them in this one summer, forgive their mistakes, and begin again? show less

Summerlong by Dean Bakopoulos
This book starts out with a married couple, two kids and they are nearing 40 and some changes are coming to each of them.
One night he gets up and walks out to find a woman lying in the grass and ends up waking up next to her in the morning. She has taken a run she knows he's home in the basement watching TV, he'd be there for the kids if they should waken.
She ends up having a few beers with a younger man. Iowa is where they live. Don works at a real estate agency. The cops find them both and deliver them home along with a foreclosure notice and their kids with a cop on the lawn wrapped in blankets.
Neither of them explain where they had been and doing-it's just a fantasy, now back to real life. Claire is an show more author but only has one book under her belt.
We learn of their other relationships and what is going through their minds...
Stories go back in time before they met, during their dating years and up to date present time spent with others.
Lives of all involved intertwine and loved hearing of the northern woods vacation...but will they have a chance at forever love?
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device). show less