Book Review: The Summer Club | Hannah McKinnon

Hannah McKinnon’s The Summer Club is a soapy summer read that tackles surprisingly deep issues. I expected a breezy read but I wouldn’t describe it that way at all. Unexpected and at times thought-provoking.

What is The Summer Club about?

Mayhaven is the best keep secret in Massachusetts. Tucked between old cedars and a spring-fed lake, the Mayhaven beach club has long been the ultimate escape to understated exclusivity. It’s the place where Darcy Birch is supposed to be experiencing the best summer of her life, but there are a few things standing in her way. Her high-strung mother won’t stop hovering over her, her father is consumed by his job as president of Mayhaven, where she works as a summer camp counselor and things are not as rosy as they seem, and her neurodivergent little brother is struggling to live with a measure of independence not everyone is ready for.

Then there is the matter of the new neighbors. Flick Creevy, his mother, and stepfather have arrived in town, parking their enormous RV, not to mention all-night music and clouds of marijuana, in the Birches’ perfectly landscaped backyard.

Flick is not interested in the perfect summer or the girl next door. Pushed to get a job at Mayhaven by his mother, who had her eyes on a new life for their family, his own eyes have been opened to the ways of the upper crust. Even though Mayhaven prides itself on being an inclusive association of good New England families with good New England values, the fact either you’re on the inside or the outside.

As the heat of summer increases, it’s soon clear that the members of Mayhaven will have to struggle to stay cool in this sharply written and refreshing new novel that is perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Jennifer Weiner.

What did I think?

A bit of a slow build that led to a big finish. The Summer Club is marketed as a beach read—idyllic setting, easy to digest, and a summer romance. It had all of those qualities, but somehow it is heavier than your average beach read. It’s a book full of country clubs, golfing, fine dining, and summer fun, but it also tackles trauma, fractured families, class disparity, and teen alcohol use. Not necessarily groundbreaking, this is still an enjoyable book. It had a Young Adult feel to it, particularly with the focus on Darcy and Flick’s stories.

Set in the heart of summer, the story centers around the exclusive and idyllic Mayhaven beach club in Massachusetts. Ned Birch is the president of Mayhaven, and his daughter Darcy works as a camp counselor. Though Darcy and Ned work at Mayhaven (and learned to golf there), they’ve never actually felt like they were treated as a part of Mayhaven, where members pay a pretty penny to belong.

The difference between staff and members at the club is stark. There is a glaring social divide that the Birches are on the wrong side of. Summer is kicking off and the escape Darcy hoped for isn’t meant to be as she is pulled in to work with her father at Mayhaven. A teenager named Flick Creevy (and his mom and stepdad) move in next door to the Birches. Despite his stepfather’s flashy cars and parties, Flick’s mother forces him to get a job at Mayhaven working in the kitchen. Flick gets a rare view of experiencing of how both the haves and the have nots live.

I found it telling that the members and staff of Mayhaven all try to differentiate it from a typical country club, claiming it isn’t as exclusive. That really couldn’t be further from the truth. In some ways it may be worse to be made to feel like there isn’t a divide when there so clearly is. Darcy feels this divide acutely. Ned sees new members as dollar amounts and a way to bring money back into the club. In many ways, the members are dollar amounts, but of course they are concerned with whether the club is only including “the right sort” of members.

I think this book struggled to understand what it was. It purports itself to be a breezy summer beach read, but difficult topics—though interesting and important—set a different and heavier tone. The setting is great, and the characters are intriguing but not as well-developed as I like (I’m a character-driven book girlie, though). The ending was satisfying. Overall, this is an unexpected book. I was surprised to see if shelved as “adult fiction”. I think because because YA as a genre tends to be comfortable with heavy topics, this might be better marketed as a YA beach read. Fans of teen contemporary fiction will enjoy this!

Thank you to Atria Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.