A Summer Affair: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: island fare, town recreational fields, summer gala, Max West, Lock Dixon, Nantucket's Children (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hilderbrand's seventh novel delves into the psyche of a guilt-ridden mother/artist who embarks on a self-destructive path. Nantucket glass artist Claire Danner Crispin has pieces in private collections and one in the Whitney, but is overwhelmed with the needs of her husband and four kids (she gave up full-time glassblowing to take care of the family). Her troubles worsen when Daphne, a friend she'd been drinking with, is severely injured in a drunken car wreck. Claire is convinced that Daphne's husband, Lockhart, holds her responsible, so she's surprised when he asks her to co-chair a charity gala and create a new piece of glass art for auction. The plot mushrooms as Claire and Lockhart begin an affair; Claire rethinks her priorities; a slew of gala-related complications arise; and Claire's ex-boyfriend turned rock star comes into play. Hilderbrand keeps a lot of balls in the air, and if she pays too much attention to event-planning minutiae, there are still enough conflicts to keep readers entertained. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

After the extreme heat of her Nantucket studio causes her to go into early labor with her youngest son, renowned glass artist Claire Danner Crispin now devotes her life to her four children. Part of her charm and part of her problem are her perpetual feelings of guilt. When asked to cochair the Nantucket Children Summer Gala, she agrees, adding an impossible burden to an already busy life. She also agrees to create a museum quality piece of artwork when the head of the charity, Lock Dixon, asks her to because Lock’s wife suffered a serious accident after going out drinking with Claire and her friends. Truly, Claire hasn’t a free moment, what with caring for her children, working with the elitist cochair from Manhattan, asking her teenage rock-star boyfriend to play the event for free, and creating a masterpiece, all while conducting a clandestine affair with Lock. A gem of a summer read with a glamorous location, elite lifestyle, and Hilderbrand’s appealing take on the constant stress that fills the lives of women everywhere. --Patty Engelmann --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (June 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316018619
• ISBN-13: 978-0316018616
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,379 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars DELIGHTFUL NARRATION GIVES THIS PLOT A BOOST, July 20, 2008

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: A Summer Affair: A Novel (Audio CD)

Take A Summer Affair to the beach and take it with a grain of salt. It's a tad difficult to believe how or why an intelligent, caring woman who has it all - good husband, four fine children, a career as an acclaimed artist - would risk throwing it all away for a summer spin in the sand? However, credulity can be easy to suspend when a narrative is filled with pretty people, dreamy scenes, and pulsing passion. So, forget the how's and why's if you've a mind to, and join the fray.

Fray is precisely what it turns out to be when Claire Danner Crispin agrees to chair the Nantucket's Children summer Gala. Not only will she serve as chair but she'll also create an original art piece - a gorgeous glass chandelier. It's not that Claire doesn't already have her plate piled high with house, husband, and kids, as most everyone can see save for Claire. But we're told she suffers from an inability to say no or even not now.

Billionaire Lockhart Dixon directs Nantucket's Children (why are these fellows always millionaires, billionaires or zillionaires?) Whatever the case he and Claire are soon having an affair. Lock's wife was involved in a tragic auto accident which left her mentally impaired.

Problems? What else? Claire has husband problems, lover problems , best friend problems, and problems with her New York co-chair.

How did a rational woman ever get herself into such a mess? One cannot help but wonder. The one thing this listener didn't wonder about is the reading by Tony Award nominee Isabel Keating. Her delightful performance makes a lighter than a cumulus cloud plot seem almost plausible. Once again star quality narration gives a boost to an unremarkable story.

- Gail Cooke

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Watching a train wreck in slo-mo from a guy's perspective., August 29, 2008

By	Carl Briscoe (Gaylordsville, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Summer Affair: A Novel (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have not been so emotionally disturbed by a story since watching Diane Lane in "Unfaithful". When you are married to a good person, who loves you, and you love them, why are you doing this?

Claire is like so many other moms, my wife included. So much going on and stretched to the breaking point but still can't say, "no". Claire's husband is a good guy and excellent father (yes he is) who, clearly, never got the wife user manual, "How to Feed and Care for your Lovely Wife". As a result, Claire, although she has a rich life in many respects, is left with two huge emotional vacuums, 1) professional satisfaction and fulfillment; and, 2) "just hold me, not bang me" intimacy. You can like both the Jason and Claire characters while wanting to slap, no,... I mean, douse them with ice cold water shouting, "wake up"! It is not like Claire is looking for trouble but when it is clearly there she does not back away.

Adultery is bad. In this story the adulterous situation is a train wreck of humongous proportions you know is going to happen. The train wreck unfurls in a very deliberate manner with lots of interesting characters and twist along the way. I never really despised, but also never liked, Locke, Claire's lover (I am closer to Locke than Jason intellectually). I think I didn't despise Locke because he was starting from such a lonely place emotionally. He was very needy considering who he was. On the other hand, you might see the whole situation as Locke taking advantage of Claire to some extent... but, all Claire had to do is not play ball so to speak.

One the more amusing aspects of an adulterous affair is when one of the perpetrators becomes jealous of their lover having to do "romantic" things with their spouse. Ouch!

Lastly, the cover has to go. Whoever selected that cover should be fired. The cover has nothing to do with the book. This was a "dark, winter" affair on Nantucket conducted under cover of night and in an office conference room. No, no, no, no barefoot walks in the sand. Sorry.

One last thing in the course of disclosures, I did this as an unabridged audiobook. Clearly, I would highly recommend this audiobook, notwithstanding the cover image.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Self-Discovery, August 6, 2008

By	Laurel-Rain Snow - Raine- "Author of 'Miles t... (Fresno, California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Summer Affair: A Novel (Hardcover)

When Claire Danner Crispin---wife, mother and artist---agrees to chair the Summer Gala on Nantucket, she doesn't realize that she is turning her life upside down. But then, as Claire describes herself, she is a person with "no boundaries". She can't say no, and she allows others to use her.

What seems like an ordinary social event becomes a trip into obsession...First, Claire finds herself drawn more and more to the director of the event, a somewhat sad, but wealthy man, whose wife has turned into a bitter, angry creature after an unfortunate car accident left her "impaired" mentally. An accident that Claire blames on herself, as she and her friends failed to persuade their inebriated friend to take a cab that night.

Then Claire has to revisit an old love...Matthew, a now famous rock star. Her task is to convince him to do a concert for the gala.

And finally, Claire is persuaded to create a museum piece for the event...she is a semi-retired glass-blower, who has previously created such pieces. But because Claire had an accident in her "hot shop" while pregnant with her youngest child, and because that child was born prematurely and may have been damaged, Claire meets resistance from her husband, who is bitter and angry about her obsession with her art. And blames her for what happened to their baby.

All of these events combine to create the perfect maelstrom for what then transpires. The guilt, the angst, the neediness...these feelings lend vulnerability to Claire's life, somehow causing it to spin completely out of control.

Over a period of a year, while Claire and others on the committee team up to create the perfect event, there is almost an inevitability in how things play out.

Does Claire find the love she lost in her marriage? Can she recreate the "perfect" first love with her rock star ex-boyfriend? Will she be able to create that museum piece, while juggling all the balls in her life? What, finally, will happen when the Summer Gala is presented, and
will Claire find the answers she seeks?

What could have been just an ordinary beach read has turned into an exploration of the human needs, flaws and urges that plague all of us at one time or another. Ms. Hilderbrand skillfully leads us down a path of discovery...not just of the characters in the story, but of our own human frailties.

A wonderfully engaging tale of human self-discovery.