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jess_mango's review
4.0
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, St. Martin's Press!
The Second Home is a family drama that centers around a family summer house in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. The old cottage has been in the Gordon family for several generations and the family still ventures out from Wisconsin every year to spend the summer. The family is made up of the 2 parents who both work at a school and their 2 daughters Anne and Poppy. The family adopts Michael, a high school classmate of Anne's, after he becomes orphaned. Michael falls in love with Cape Code during his first summer there with the Gordons. During Michael's 2nd summer there, some events set wheels in motion that will drive wedge between the family for more than a decade.
Cape Cod holds a special place in my heart. I've gone there almost every summer since I was a kid. Lots of memories there. I love reading books that help transport me there and this one definitely helped bring me to Wellfleet. It had all the stuff I needed to get that sense of place: local businesses, landmarks, flora & fauna, etc.
The story definitely showed how keeping secrets and not being open with your family can cause lasting misunderstandings. The chapters alternate between Anne, Poppy, and Michael. The first part of the book is set during their teen years and the latter part is set about 15 years later. It is sad to see how their great family dynamic was hurt by the events of that one summer. While this may not be a light and fluffy beach read, I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good summer read.
The Second Home is a family drama that centers around a family summer house in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. The old cottage has been in the Gordon family for several generations and the family still ventures out from Wisconsin every year to spend the summer. The family is made up of the 2 parents who both work at a school and their 2 daughters Anne and Poppy. The family adopts Michael, a high school classmate of Anne's, after he becomes orphaned. Michael falls in love with Cape Code during his first summer there with the Gordons. During Michael's 2nd summer there, some events set wheels in motion that will drive wedge between the family for more than a decade.
Cape Cod holds a special place in my heart. I've gone there almost every summer since I was a kid. Lots of memories there. I love reading books that help transport me there and this one definitely helped bring me to Wellfleet. It had all the stuff I needed to get that sense of place: local businesses, landmarks, flora & fauna, etc.
The story definitely showed how keeping secrets and not being open with your family can cause lasting misunderstandings. The chapters alternate between Anne, Poppy, and Michael. The first part of the book is set during their teen years and the latter part is set about 15 years later. It is sad to see how their great family dynamic was hurt by the events of that one summer. While this may not be a light and fluffy beach read, I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good summer read.
asstgelais's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
lbaggy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Re-read
candacesiegle_greedyreader's review
4.0
3.5 stars
Christina Clancy has the gift of making characters believable and immediate from the start. Great! "The Second Home" is readable, but goes to a number of dark places with its most unconvincing character. If members of the Gordon family had just communicated they way their parents had taught them, most of this book would not have happened. You'll want to shake them.
Next book, Christina Clancy, I'm in. She's got character down. Next--plot.
~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
Christina Clancy has the gift of making characters believable and immediate from the start. Great! "The Second Home" is readable, but goes to a number of dark places with its most unconvincing character. If members of the Gordon family had just communicated they way their parents had taught them, most of this book would not have happened. You'll want to shake them.
Next book, Christina Clancy, I'm in. She's got character down. Next--plot.
~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
leach2225's review
5.0
This book was excellent. Every once in a while a new author comes along and has a great talent of putting you in the book. Three siblings growing up and how their life's continued after they left the nest. Coming of age plus adulthood. A great write for a first time author. Looking forward to more from Christina Clancy.
nancy_ahyee's review
3.0
Christina Clancy's Gordon family is definitely one that I won't soon forget as the description indicates, but I didn't fall in love with them. As the Prologue of The Second Home begins, we meet Ann who is awaiting a realtor's arrival at her childhood summer home in Wellfleet, MA, and she's planning to arrange the sale after her parents' sudden death six months before. Since she hasn't been able to find a will and with Poppy moving around and out of communication, Ann is able to get the court to establish her as the executor of the estate. When Ann finally reaches her, Poppy comes home to Milwaukee to help arrange the sale of the main family home and will join Ann in Wellfleet once the Milwaukee sale is finalized. The Prologue is written from Ann's point of view, so her thoughts make it clear that she's hiding Michael's existence from both the realtor and the probate court. What we don't know yet is why.
Part I is almost the whole first half of the book. The first chapter introduces us to the fact that it's Michael's first summer with the family, and Ann and Poppy spend the summer introducing him to the house, the beach, and the family's summer traditions on Cape Cod. It is that first summer when Michael falls in love with the Cape.
The chapters that follow begin the following (disastrous) summer of 2000 when Ann and Michael are about 17 and Ann picks up a babysitting job with Anthony and Maureen Shaw. She also arranges for Michael to work with the Shaws landscaper for the summer. We follow the alternating perspectives of Ann, Poppy, and Michael who spend that summer in very different ways. Instead of spending all their time together as a family, Ann is babysitting, Poppy is embraced by the surfing community, and Michael learns the ropes of gardening and landscaping.
The book takes us through this last fateful summer that they spend together in Wellfleet before Part II begins with an article detailing their parents' death 15 years later as they're driving home from the Cape. We continue through the alternating perspectives, which now detail the distance and animosity between the three and carry us through to the end of their story.
Here's what I loved about this book. Having never been to Cape Cod, I was still able to feel the beauty and appeal of the location because of the detail woven throughout the story. And each of the kids viewed it in a different way, revealing their distinct personalities. The reader is able to pick up on the similarities that made them close along with the differences that pull them apart.
The book has its happily ever after, but I couldn't reconcile the situations outlined in the spoilers. They don't make it a bad book. I just feel like they make it a not-great book.
Here's what knocks it down to three stars for me.
***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***
I need to outline quite a few story details to explain what I didn't like.
(First trigger warning - rape)
The summer that is detailed in the book is one in which Ann flirts with Anthony Shaw all summer, enjoying the attention of the older and successful man. He eventually creates a situation for them to become physical, and he rapes Ann when she says realizes how wrong it is and says no. That evening, she sneaks into the house in search of Poppy for comfort, but when Ann discovers that Poppy isn't home, she seeks out Michael. She doesn't tell him what happened, but crawls into his bed just for company. When Ed and Connie discover Michael and Ann in the same bed, they immediately pack up the family and head back to Milwaukee.
Even though Ann and Michael insist that nothing happened between them (it didn't), we don't hear any ramifications of them being caught in the same bed. There isn't any discussion with Ed and Connie. We just see Ann become more and more withdrawn because she discovers that she's pregnant. She calls Anthony to tell him, he of course insists the baby is not his but then tells Ann to give him a week to think about it and hangs up on her.
The next thing we see is Anthony in Milwaukee approaching Michael and telling him that they need to talk. He tells Michael that Ann is pregnant, that he and Ann are in love, but that Ann wants Michael to say he is the baby's father and leave town because admitting that Anthony is the father will ruin his life. In return, Anthony will give Michael $50,000 for himself and put another $50,000 in the bank so Ann will receive regular checks that look like they're coming from Michael. If Michael doesn't agree, Ann will get nothing. Anthony then proceeds to tell Ann that Michael overheard her telling Anthony she was pregnant and that Michael blackmailed him, saying that he would tell the Gordons he was the father if Anthony paid him to disappear. Anthony convinces Ann that he will make her life miserable and fight her for custody if she takes a paternity test.
Michael is resentful that Ann expected him to say he is the father. Ann is resentful that Michael blackmailed Anthony. Both of them were manipulated by a man who has everything to lose. Granted, they are young, and Anthony is in a position of authority, but neither of them had the faith in their parents to confide in them. The Gordons believe Michael when he leaves a message for them apologizing for what he did to Ann, but Ed and Connie never stop looking for him. They are confident that if they can find him, they can all get past what happened.
So....
Ed and Connie continue to go to Wellfleet every summer, even though the girls don't join them. Michael, as it turns out, takes the money from Anthony and joins the landscaping business that he worked with that summer. He asks not to work in Wellfleet itself, but I find it very hard to believe that in a town that size, even with the summer residents, that Ed and Connie continued to look for Michael for 15 years and never discover that he had actually settled there.
The court system should have a record of Michael's adoption, so even if they are unable to find him and assign Ann as the executor of the estate, Ann still shouldn't be able to get a document stating that the title on the house is clear of other heirs. Additionally, the realtor is a former friend of Poppy's. Wouldn't she know that Poppy had an adopted brother?
(Second trigger warning - suicide)
After her parents' death, Ann decides she is brave enough to confront Anthony for support for Noah, believing that their son should have the same opportunities that the boys she babysat for had. When Maureen answers the door, Ann discovers that the company Anthony worked for has gone out of business and Anthony is suffering from depression. When he realizes she is in his home, he gets angry and they end up arguing in front of Maureen about the rape. He eventually goes back upstairs and shoots himself. And then Maureen and Ann become close friends to the point where Maureen is willing to front Ann an insurance settlement to buy Michael's share of the Wellfleet house. What?!?!
When Michael finally reunites with Poppy and Ann, Poppy is thrilled, but Ann wants nothing to do with him. Over time, they argue about selling the house or not. Eventually they find the will, which assigns ownership to the grandchildren. Ann assumes that the house will then go to Noah, not realizing that Michael has a daughter. The court determines that Michael and Ann need to alternate residence in the home every two weeks, which seems completely unreasonable since Ann lives full-time in Boston. The two of them diligently swap residence every two weeks, seemingly to antagonize one another, and never talk about what happened the summer Michael disappeared and Noah was born. I understand family estrangements. I'm sure everyone has experienced something like that at one time or another, but I can't help but feel that as close as the three siblings were for those two years, they would have talked about things when they found themselves all back in Wellfleet together, especially once Poppy actually finds out both sides of their stories.
Like I said, there is a happily ever after. The siblings come back together, Poppy settles down, Ann and Michael are building a business together and seem to be developing the romantic attraction they have always had for one another. Michael's daughter Avery and Noah are described as acting like brother and sister. So a nice ending. I just didn't think it was a 4- or 5-star read.
I received an advance digital copy of this title from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. It is currently available for pre-order with a release date of June 2, 2020.
Part I is almost the whole first half of the book. The first chapter introduces us to the fact that it's Michael's first summer with the family, and Ann and Poppy spend the summer introducing him to the house, the beach, and the family's summer traditions on Cape Cod. It is that first summer when Michael falls in love with the Cape.
The chapters that follow begin the following (disastrous) summer of 2000 when Ann and Michael are about 17 and Ann picks up a babysitting job with Anthony and Maureen Shaw. She also arranges for Michael to work with the Shaws landscaper for the summer. We follow the alternating perspectives of Ann, Poppy, and Michael who spend that summer in very different ways. Instead of spending all their time together as a family, Ann is babysitting, Poppy is embraced by the surfing community, and Michael learns the ropes of gardening and landscaping.
The book takes us through this last fateful summer that they spend together in Wellfleet before Part II begins with an article detailing their parents' death 15 years later as they're driving home from the Cape. We continue through the alternating perspectives, which now detail the distance and animosity between the three and carry us through to the end of their story.
Here's what I loved about this book. Having never been to Cape Cod, I was still able to feel the beauty and appeal of the location because of the detail woven throughout the story. And each of the kids viewed it in a different way, revealing their distinct personalities. The reader is able to pick up on the similarities that made them close along with the differences that pull them apart.
The book has its happily ever after, but I couldn't reconcile the situations outlined in the spoilers. They don't make it a bad book. I just feel like they make it a not-great book.
Here's what knocks it down to three stars for me.
***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***
I need to outline quite a few story details to explain what I didn't like.
(First trigger warning - rape)
The summer that is detailed in the book is one in which Ann flirts with Anthony Shaw all summer, enjoying the attention of the older and successful man. He eventually creates a situation for them to become physical, and he rapes Ann when she says realizes how wrong it is and says no. That evening, she sneaks into the house in search of Poppy for comfort, but when Ann discovers that Poppy isn't home, she seeks out Michael. She doesn't tell him what happened, but crawls into his bed just for company. When Ed and Connie discover Michael and Ann in the same bed, they immediately pack up the family and head back to Milwaukee.
Even though Ann and Michael insist that nothing happened between them (it didn't), we don't hear any ramifications of them being caught in the same bed. There isn't any discussion with Ed and Connie. We just see Ann become more and more withdrawn because she discovers that she's pregnant. She calls Anthony to tell him, he of course insists the baby is not his but then tells Ann to give him a week to think about it and hangs up on her.
The next thing we see is Anthony in Milwaukee approaching Michael and telling him that they need to talk. He tells Michael that Ann is pregnant, that he and Ann are in love, but that Ann wants Michael to say he is the baby's father and leave town because admitting that Anthony is the father will ruin his life. In return, Anthony will give Michael $50,000 for himself and put another $50,000 in the bank so Ann will receive regular checks that look like they're coming from Michael. If Michael doesn't agree, Ann will get nothing. Anthony then proceeds to tell Ann that Michael overheard her telling Anthony she was pregnant and that Michael blackmailed him, saying that he would tell the Gordons he was the father if Anthony paid him to disappear. Anthony convinces Ann that he will make her life miserable and fight her for custody if she takes a paternity test.
Michael is resentful that Ann expected him to say he is the father. Ann is resentful that Michael blackmailed Anthony. Both of them were manipulated by a man who has everything to lose. Granted, they are young, and Anthony is in a position of authority, but neither of them had the faith in their parents to confide in them. The Gordons believe Michael when he leaves a message for them apologizing for what he did to Ann, but Ed and Connie never stop looking for him. They are confident that if they can find him, they can all get past what happened.
So....
Ed and Connie continue to go to Wellfleet every summer, even though the girls don't join them. Michael, as it turns out, takes the money from Anthony and joins the landscaping business that he worked with that summer. He asks not to work in Wellfleet itself, but I find it very hard to believe that in a town that size, even with the summer residents, that Ed and Connie continued to look for Michael for 15 years and never discover that he had actually settled there.
The court system should have a record of Michael's adoption, so even if they are unable to find him and assign Ann as the executor of the estate, Ann still shouldn't be able to get a document stating that the title on the house is clear of other heirs. Additionally, the realtor is a former friend of Poppy's. Wouldn't she know that Poppy had an adopted brother?
(Second trigger warning - suicide)
After her parents' death, Ann decides she is brave enough to confront Anthony for support for Noah, believing that their son should have the same opportunities that the boys she babysat for had. When Maureen answers the door, Ann discovers that the company Anthony worked for has gone out of business and Anthony is suffering from depression. When he realizes she is in his home, he gets angry and they end up arguing in front of Maureen about the rape. He eventually goes back upstairs and shoots himself. And then Maureen and Ann become close friends to the point where Maureen is willing to front Ann an insurance settlement to buy Michael's share of the Wellfleet house. What?!?!
When Michael finally reunites with Poppy and Ann, Poppy is thrilled, but Ann wants nothing to do with him. Over time, they argue about selling the house or not. Eventually they find the will, which assigns ownership to the grandchildren. Ann assumes that the house will then go to Noah, not realizing that Michael has a daughter. The court determines that Michael and Ann need to alternate residence in the home every two weeks, which seems completely unreasonable since Ann lives full-time in Boston. The two of them diligently swap residence every two weeks, seemingly to antagonize one another, and never talk about what happened the summer Michael disappeared and Noah was born. I understand family estrangements. I'm sure everyone has experienced something like that at one time or another, but I can't help but feel that as close as the three siblings were for those two years, they would have talked about things when they found themselves all back in Wellfleet together, especially once Poppy actually finds out both sides of their stories.
Like I said, there is a happily ever after. The siblings come back together, Poppy settles down, Ann and Michael are building a business together and seem to be developing the romantic attraction they have always had for one another. Michael's daughter Avery and Noah are described as acting like brother and sister. So a nice ending. I just didn't think it was a 4- or 5-star read.
I received an advance digital copy of this title from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. It is currently available for pre-order with a release date of June 2, 2020.
novelvisits's review
4.0
Note: I received a copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest thoughts.
All in all, I liked The Second Home quite a lot. The Cape Cod setting and dysfunctional family dynamics both appeal to me. Clancy did a great job establishing that sense of place and love for a family home. The family’s vacation home in Welfleet reminded me of summers spent on my grandparent’s cattle ranch in California.
“The sun was beginning to rise, and a layer of yellow like a line of highlighter shone at the crease of the horizon. The wind pushed the cold off the ocean to shore and made her hair whip around her head. She could taste the salt on her lips. She liked being there early. It made her feel like she had the world all to herself.”
The family itself felt mostly genuine to me, though when communication is so poor for so long, as it was with this family, it always gives me pause. The biggest flaw in this story of a family torn apart by secrets was its villain. He was a terrible man and all the characters knew that, yet they believed every unlikely lie he told them. For me, that felt false and required some suspension of disbelief. Still, I was entertained by The Second Home and was always eager to get back to reading. I knew where the story would end up, but remained curious of the path toward getting there. It’s a beach read, but with a serious tone.
Original Source: https://novelvisits.com/june-mini-reviews-a-trio-of-debuts/
All in all, I liked The Second Home quite a lot. The Cape Cod setting and dysfunctional family dynamics both appeal to me. Clancy did a great job establishing that sense of place and love for a family home. The family’s vacation home in Welfleet reminded me of summers spent on my grandparent’s cattle ranch in California.
“The sun was beginning to rise, and a layer of yellow like a line of highlighter shone at the crease of the horizon. The wind pushed the cold off the ocean to shore and made her hair whip around her head. She could taste the salt on her lips. She liked being there early. It made her feel like she had the world all to herself.”
The family itself felt mostly genuine to me, though when communication is so poor for so long, as it was with this family, it always gives me pause. The biggest flaw in this story of a family torn apart by secrets was its villain. He was a terrible man and all the characters knew that, yet they believed every unlikely lie he told them. For me, that felt false and required some suspension of disbelief. Still, I was entertained by The Second Home and was always eager to get back to reading. I knew where the story would end up, but remained curious of the path toward getting there. It’s a beach read, but with a serious tone.
Original Source: https://novelvisits.com/june-mini-reviews-a-trio-of-debuts/
msrudolph's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
gabizago's review
5.0
This is actually a nice story about family and what really matters in life. The Gordons have a beach house in Cape Cod and after one Summer everything changes. One of the daughters works as a babysitter for another family and gets too involved with this other family, and then gets tangled in a web of lies. In the end, the family that was super close ends up becoming separated for several years. But that house is always there, their second home, to reconnect everyone together.
lizziepagereads's review
2.0
2.5 stars
The idea for this novel is great, and I enjoyed the plot itself enough to make it to the end. However, the execution faltered in a few ways that really bothered me as a reader.
First, the timeline jumped around in a way that was really confusing. I typically enjoy books where the narrative skips from one person or point in time to another, but it needs to be clearly explained. I’ve seen timeline jumps explained via a new chapter, or by dropping not subtle hints that we’re in a flashback, or by setting the text apart in an indent. None of these techniques were used here. An event would be casually mentioned in passing, then a future chapter would feature the event prominently. It’s almost as though the author forgot when she first referenced it that we hadn’t made it there yet. I had an advanced reader copy, so perhaps the chapter order wasn’t finalized.
The other main problem I had here was the characters’ personalities and motivations. There were so many times in which the character’s dialogue didn’t make sense to me based on how they had been developed. It made the characters seem inconsistent and, depending on the exact circumstance, either way overdramatic or uncharacteristically stoic.
If these types of things don’t bother you or you don’t notice them, you will likely LOVE this book. Otherwise, it still might be worth a read, but be prepared for a somewhat mixed up timeline and somewhat inconsistent characters.
The idea for this novel is great, and I enjoyed the plot itself enough to make it to the end. However, the execution faltered in a few ways that really bothered me as a reader.
First, the timeline jumped around in a way that was really confusing. I typically enjoy books where the narrative skips from one person or point in time to another, but it needs to be clearly explained. I’ve seen timeline jumps explained via a new chapter, or by dropping not subtle hints that we’re in a flashback, or by setting the text apart in an indent. None of these techniques were used here. An event would be casually mentioned in passing, then a future chapter would feature the event prominently. It’s almost as though the author forgot when she first referenced it that we hadn’t made it there yet. I had an advanced reader copy, so perhaps the chapter order wasn’t finalized.
The other main problem I had here was the characters’ personalities and motivations. There were so many times in which the character’s dialogue didn’t make sense to me based on how they had been developed. It made the characters seem inconsistent and, depending on the exact circumstance, either way overdramatic or uncharacteristically stoic.
If these types of things don’t bother you or you don’t notice them, you will likely LOVE this book. Otherwise, it still might be worth a read, but be prepared for a somewhat mixed up timeline and somewhat inconsistent characters.