The Best Summer Beach Reads From Rhody Authors
Whether it’s a trip to East Matunuck or a rainy day inside, these relaxing reads will put you in an Ocean State of mind.
(Getty/AleksandarNakic)
We get it — with yet another torrential downpour yesterday, it hasn’t exactly been a great beach summer in Rhode Island (unless you were planning to take a dip on Reservoir Avenue in Cranston, in which case you’re in luck). But being eternal optimists — or maybe we’re just desperate for a full day without drizzle — we at Rhode Island Monthly have our beach bags packed and are ready to hit Route 4 at the first sign of sun.
Thankfully, there’s more to a beach read than simply the location. The perfect beach book is engaging and fun, but not so demanding you can’t put it aside once in awhile to catch up with friends or enjoy the view. As it happens, Rhody authors have several new books that fit this description. The stories featured below will take you from the shores of Nantucket to the mansion-lined streets of Newport to the rolling fields of the Midwest. And the best part? They’re also perfect for cozying up on a rainy day in. Whatever the forecast has in store over the next two months, here are three new books from local authors that will keep you entertained all summer long.
(Courtesy of MIRA)
By Julie Gerstenblatt
Julie Gerstenblatt’s debut novel takes us back to 1840s Nantucket, where three women from very different classes and backgrounds are struggling to maintain their way of life on a rapidly changing island. There’s Eliza Macy, whose upper-class lifestyle is threatened by her husband’s failure to return from his most recent whaling voyage; Meg Wright, a free Black woman determined to forge ahead with her family’s business; and Maria Mitchell, an educated dreamer who runs the local Atheneum. And, of course, there’s the Great Fire of 1846, a real-life event that looms over the story with its impending destruction.
The Barrington resident’s first novel has already received critical acclaim and promises to be one of the best-read books of the summer. Originally from New York, Gerstenblatt is a former middle school English teacher who took on writing as a second career. She’s been vacationing in Nantucket since the 1970s. Readers can catch her at Charter Books in Newport on Aug. 24, at Books on the Square in Providence on Sept. 13, or at Island Books in Middletown on Sept. 14.
(Courtesy of the Turner Publishing/Keylight Books, cover art by William Ruoto)
By Fletcher Michael
Raymond Wilson-Domingo might have grown up in Newport, but he’s a long way from the city’s jet-setting Bellevue Avenue crowd. A middle-class Cuban-American from the city’s Fifth Ward, Ray is desperate to fit in, and will use anything — from his job in a boutique wine shop to a delightful romp through a summer of parties and privilege — to secure his place among the elite. Michael, an Aquidneck native, draws on his own experiences growing up in Portsmouth, where he attended Portsmouth Abbey School and Salve Regina University. Readers will recognize the author’s insider knowledge from working at a Bellevue Avenue wine shop and bartending at Newport Polo in this coming-of-age story of a twenty-first century socialite who just doesn’t quite fit in.
(Courtesy of Apprentice House Press, cover design by April Hartman)
By Elizabeth Rau
Elizabeth Rau is a journalist and writer whose work has been featured in various publications over the years, including Rhode Island Monthly. Now, in her first books of essays, she brings a journalist’s practiced hand to life’s everyday joys, from the East Side of Providence to her childhood in the Midwest. Rau chronicles the ups and downs of a quiet (and sometimes hilarious) life, including raising children in middle age and encountering the characters around her East Side home. Her eye for observation honed over fifteen years writing for The Providence Journal shine through as she turns life’s everyday occurrences into episodes worth reflection, sparking memories and imparting new ones along the way.
The author will give readings on Thursday, July 20, at the Kingston Free Public Library hosted by Wakefield Books and on Sept. 18 at Charter Books in Newport.
RELATED ARTICLES
Curl Up With a Good Read and Some Small Bites at Arc{hive} Books and Snackery
Check Out These New Books with Rhode Island Connections
Pizza Night Leads to a Bestselling Book for Barrington Author
