'Overall this novel is an entertaining bagatelle. 'An engrossing tale of an iconic American summer'- People Magazine 'The grande dame of beach reads.Hilderbrand shifts among characters with her usual ease, weaving a saga that will make you forget the dynamics of your own dysfunctional people as you crowd into a too-small vacation rental.'- Liz Egan, New York Times Book Review In her first historical novel, rich with the details of an era that shaped both a nation and an island thirty miles out to sea, Elin Hilderbrand once again earns her title as queen of the summer novel. And thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother and her worried mother, while each of them hides a troubling secret.Īs the summer heats up, Ted Kennedy sinks a car in Chappaquiddick, man flies to the moon, and Jessie and her family experience their own dramatic upheavals along with the rest of the country. Only-son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. Middle sister Kirby, caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests and determined to be independent, takes a summer job on Martha's Vineyard.

But like so much else in America, nothing is the same: Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother's historic home in downtown Nantucket. It's 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century. Four siblings experience the drama, intrigue, and upheaval of the '60s summer when everything changed in Elin Hilderbrand's #1 New York Times bestselling historical novel.

Elin hilderbrand summer of 69 series