The Second Home A Novel by Christina Clancy

Book Excerpt:

"After a disastrous summer spent at her family summer home on Cape Cod, seventeen-year-old Ann Gordon was left with a secret that changed her life forever, and created a rift between her sister, Poppy, and their adopted brother, Michael.

Now, fifteen years later, her parents have died, leaving Ann and Poppy to decide the fate of the Wellfleet home that's been in the Gordon family for generations. For Ann, the once-beloved house is tainted with bad memories. Poppy loves the old saltbox, but after years spent chasing waves around the world, she isn't sure she knows how to stay in one place.

Just when the sisters decide to sell, Michael re-enters their lives with a legitimate claim to the house. But more than that, he wants to set the record straight about that long-ago summer. Reunited after years apart, these very different siblings must decide if they can continue to be a family—and the house just might be the glue that holds them together.

Told through the shifting perspectives of Ann, Poppy, and Michael, this assured and affecting debut captures the ache of nostalgia for summers past and the powerful draw of the places we return to again and again. It is about second homes, second families, and second chances. Tender and compassionate, incisive and heartbreaking, The Second Home is the story of a family you'll quickly fall in love with, and won't soon forget."

Title: The Second Home

Author: Christina Clancy

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Reviewed By: Arlena Dean

Rating: Five

Review:

"The Second Home" by Christina Clancy

My Speculation:

This is one read where you will find mistakes and miscommunication that have been made by the Gordon family [Ed, Connie, Ann, Poppy & Michael] that will almost shake them all apart. From 'secrets, heartbreaking, emotional read, miscommunication, disaster, lies, and betrayals,' this family will have there share that almost destroyed them as they were estranged from each other for the past fifteen years. And to think most of this was from years of misunderstandings where no one would talk about the situations. 

It was interesting seeing how these family relationships and struggles had turned so much against each other. I was left wondering, couldn't this drama be resolved if someone had chosen to talk to each other? All I can say is that only if these characters had made different choices in their solutions, things might have turned out differently.

Will this summer home be filled with so much heartbreak be the place that will mend all of their hearts? Well, to find out, you will have to pick up "The Second Home" to see how each one of these protagonists gives us their perspectives.

Be ready for a compelling and haunting read from 'family dynamics, sisters' complex relationships, and add an adoptee,' and all I can say is get ready for a good read. Also, I will say at this point, and there will be a 'trigger warning' rape.

I received an ARC from NetGalley via St. Martin's Press, and I have voluntarily reviewed this book.