Emma Rosenblum's Bad Summer People came at just the right time for this reader. It's a perfect sultry summer read right when one is needed the most: February in Wisconsin.
The town of Salcombe on Fire Island is a getaway for the well-to-do. In the Atlantic Ocean, a ferry ride away from New York City, Fire Island is akin to the Hamptons. Many of the families summering there have inherited their properties and come from privilege.
The summer kicks off with a body being found by a child on his bike near the boardwalk. The story then takes readers through the summer starting at the beginning and told through alternating points of view from the residents of Salcombe.
Jason and Sam have been best friends since their youth, but that doesn't stop Jason from having an affair with Sam's wife Jen. However, Jason's wife Lauren is distracted due to the affair she starts with the tennis pro, Robert. Rachel is the one singleton, and also a terrible gossip and pot-stirrer, who is still in love with Sam whom she has been friends with since her youth. Micah is the young bartender who observes all goings-on from his post. Susan is the elderly resident in charge of many of Salcombe's summer events and who misses nothing.
Sound like a lot of characters? There are many more! But not to worry as Rosenblum does an excellent job of reminding readers who everyone is through context clues. The depth Rosenblum gives to each character of Bad Summer People keeps them from being caricatures and humanizes them. Tennis plays an important role in the story as Rosenblum uses it to set the stage for much mixing and matching amongst the cliquey residents on Fire Island.
This is delicious, gossipy fun to read and concludes with the shocking revelation of who the dead body is and how the person died. It's dark, it's humorous, and it's clever. I ate this novel up and it gets five stars out of five.
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