THESE SUMMER STORMS by Sarah MacLean

5 stars

A totally engaging and compelling story about a wealthy tech billionaire’s family, their private island and their private anguish. Franklin Storm, founder of an innovative and hugely successful tech company, raises his four children on a private island off the coast of Rhode Island. Far from being a sanctuary, all Franklin’s kids and wife all have lived under their father’s relentless iron will in which he wanted to call all the shots in their lives. Franklin has just died from an extreme sports accident, and the family gathers on the island.

Alice, the most independent of Franklin’s children, has not visited the island for five years after being banished from the family by her father for not bending to his will. Contrary to Franklin’s dictates, Alice has pursued a career teaching art, living in a modest apartment in Brooklyn and refusing all of her father’s money.  Alice has deeply mixed feelings about returning home, as none of her siblings or her Mom have reached out to her since her estrangement and she has her own private grief at Franklin’s death to deal with. En route home, she runs into a man who seems to be a handsome stranger, but who turns out to be Jack Dean, Franklin’s right hand at the office.

Alices arrives on the island to reluctantly confront her siblings. Her older sister Greta has always tried to placate their mom, staying by her side and trying to meet all many opiniated directions, without every prioritizing herself or her goals. Her older brother Sam has been working at their father’s company without earning any respect, and who is embittered, mean-spirited and inattentive to his two tween kids and hostile wife who have joined him on the island.  Emily, the baby,has come with her wife, with whom she owns a spiritual crystal shop and tries to live in a state of grateful mindfulness. Elizabeth, the distant, unemotional, icy Mom, refuses to grieve Franklin and has instead invited all his colleagues and distinguished acquaintances for a celebration of life in a week’s time.

But all the family gets upended when Jack immediately announces that a game that Franklin has created is afoot, and all must participate and fulfill their challenges or else everyone will be disinherited. Alice could care less about the money, but she must last it out on the island for a week or everyone will lose. Now the drama begins: with challenges afoot, deep secrets revealed, dramatic fights taking place and reveals leaving you breathless.

What a great read!!

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.