Set on Cape Cod during one tumultuous summer, Elizabeth Kelly's gothic family story will delight readers of The Family Fang and The Giant's House. The Last Summer of the Camperdowns, from the bestselling author of Apologize, Apologize!, introduces Riddle James Camperdown, the twelve-year-old daughter of the idealistic Camp and his manicured, razor-sharp wife, Greer. It's 1972, and Riddle's father is running for office from the family compound in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Between Camp's desire to toughen her up and Greer's demand for glamour, Riddle has her hands full juggling her eccentric parents. When she accidentally witnesses a crime close to home, her confusion and fear keep her silent. As the summer unfolds, the consequences of her silence multiply. Another mysterious and powerful family, the Devlins, slowly emerges as the keeper of astonishing secrets that could shatter the Camperdowns. As an old love triangle, bitter war wounds, and the struggle for status spiral out of control, Riddle can only watch, hoping for the courage to reveal the truth.
"The Last Summer of the Camperdowns is one of the most delightful beach books evah! It is the literary equivalent of a dozen Wellfleet oysters-salty, sweet, sublime."
Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author
"Kellys new novel is just as scathingly witty as her bestselling debut but better plotted and even more emotionally harrowing…Kelly skillfully builds almost unbearable tension, slipping in plenty of dark laughs en route to a wrenching climax that leaves in its wake some painfully unresolved questions-just like life. More fine work from a writer with a rare gift for blending wit and rue."
