Getting a parenting break? Unwind with one of these great beach reads.
I’m preparing for an upcoming vacation and assembling escapist reads between packing my children off to camp and hunting for a bathing suit. Maybe you are, too? Here’s what’s on my list, from frothy to suspenseful, with a few set close to home.
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“Getting Away with Murder” by Shari LaPena
Suspense novelist LaPena is renowned for summertime thrillers, usually involving privileged people in confining circumstances; bad marriages in airless upstate New York towns. This one is set in New York City, where Ted and Jill live in a stunning brownstone and enjoy every trapping of wealth — until Ted’s inheritance fizzles. One bad investment later, he and Jill are contemplating murdering Ted’s loaded brother, Greg, to keep their finances afloat. But it’s not that easy: blackmail and backbiting ensue.
“Lake Effect” by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
A restless 1970s suburban drama set in Rochester, N.Y., where Kodak and Xerox fueled the economy. Nina Larkin’s newly divorced friend slips her a copy of “The Joy of Sex”; feeling her age, she watches her eldest child, Clara, on the brink of first love. Ah, midlife ennui: Nina begins to wonder what she’s missing and soon finds out. Scandal inevitably follows — and, years later, Clara’s life turns inside-out as she ventures back home, the drama still reverberating.
“London Falling”by Patrick Radden Keefe
Keefe, who grew up in Dorchester, first explored this story in a titillating New Yorkerfeature called “The Oligarch’s Son,” about prosperous London teenager Zac Brettler’s leap from the fifth-floor balcony of a luxury London building into the Thames. The circumstances were peculiar: Brettler was leading a double life, pretending to be the child of a Russian billionaire while actually the child of doting parents. Who did he encounter in this seamy underworld? What didn’t his parents know? The story is part mystery, part British gangster noir, part coming-of-age cautionary tale.
“Make Nice” by Ryan Effgen
A bingeable addition to the dysfunctional-family-goes-on-vacation genre, with a motley crew of characters: a child actor turned cocaine salesman, a deceived divorcée, a scientist, a disgruntled teen, and an emotionally stunted widower mourning the family matriarch while harboring his own secrets. Perfect if you’re hiding out by the pool, wishing your own family were a bit more normal.
“Monster of a Land: On the Road in Search of Modern America” by Lauren Hough
Why not go on someone else’s road trip instead? Essayist Lauren Hough (“Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing”) refurbishes a 2001 Dodge van and sets off on the great American highway from Texas with Woody Guthrie, her faithful Husky, riding shotgun. She’s wise and witty, a relatable guide as she explores the ordinary corners of America — diners, gas stations, takeout windows, van-sleepers — that social media missed. The title is a nod to John Steinbeck, and her journey is in that tradition but made modern, with all that entails.
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“The Shampoo Effect” by Jenny Jackson
The bestselling author of “Pineapple Street” is back with a book about midlife on the North Shore (Jackson grew up in Ipswich; in the book, the town is called Greenhead). Caroline Lash escapes here from the confines of her publishing career in New York, only to be plunged into a bookworthy story arc involving cute townie Van Whittaker and his longtime hometown friend group, including an ex-girlfriend who became pregnant before Caroline arrived. There’s the whiff of John Updike and suburban woe, updated for contemporary audiences — a juicy beach read with a juicier beach setting.
“Someone Else’s Husband” by Kimberly McCreight
A wealthy Upper East Side wife. A philandering husband on a far-flung vacation to Mount Kilimanjaro, emphasis on the kill: Shortly after their affair, his mistress is found dead in an East Village loft. Author Kimberly McCreight climbed Kilimanjaro when her longtime marriage ended, but this is where the similarities end. Satisfying for anyone who relishes domestic dramas like “Big Little Lies” and “The Undoing.” (In fact, the book has been optioned as a series.)
“Valley of the Moms” by Hannah Selinger
Another sizzly North Shore romp, this one by Boxford’s own Hannah Selinger. It’s set in Hamilton, depicted as a swanky enclave with an all-powerful PTO. Protagonist Anna Plummer is without a premium PTO membership, which means that her tot can’t attend a school dance. When she confronts the intimidating PTO president about the system, drama spills over, and, a year later, Anna is found dead in the Ipswich River. Art imitates real life: Selinger was in a similar beef with her hometown PTO over tiered payment practices in 2023.
“Vera Stein is Fine” by Julie Murphy
Forty-year-old Vera Stein wanted to be a screenwriter. Instead, she became an assistant to Brody Turner, a Hollywood himbo and her longtime crush — until she’s about to be replaced by a younger model. She flees to Palm Springs to find refuge with her grandmother, Ruby, a faded horror movie actress, at retirement community Starlight Palms. She becomes their activity coordinator and resumes a romance with a college friend who’s now Starlight’s doctor. Is this “Eat, Pray, Love” meets “The Golden Girls”? I’ll soon find out, but it sounds perfect for anyone who appreciates rom-coms, Hollywood hijinx, and midlife reinvention.
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