Publishers Weekly
06/19/2023
In Hostin’s uneven latest (after Summer on the Bluffs), a 20-something woman inherits a house from her godfather in Sag Harbor Hills, N.Y., a historically Black community in the Hamptons. Olivia Jones, an analyst for Goldman Sachs, longs to learn more about her father, Chris, who died when she was a baby. She gets the chance after Omar Tanner wills her the Eastern Long Island property Chris visited in the summer as a child. Joel Whittingham, the community’s unofficial mayor, knew Chris and welcomes Olivia, as do a busybody neighbor and a goodhearted real estate agent who’s passionate about blocking a predatory developer, ASK Properties, from gentrifying the area. Around these accepting new friends, all of whom are Black, the dark-skinned Olivia comes to terms with the colorism she dealt with while growing up. At the same time, she feels ashamed by her fiancé, Anderson Edwards, an aspiring comedian and TV writer, who is white, because of his need to support himself with food delivery work, and she explores a mutual attraction with another neighbor. Hostin’s strengths lie in depicting the community’s joyous camaraderie, but the plot tips into unnecessary melodrama with revelations about Chris and far-fetched connections between Anderson and ASK. This is charming and frustrating in equal measure. (May)
From the Publisher
"Hostin packs a lot into this breezy beach read... With hints of Elin Hilderbrand's beachy escapism and thematically related to Alyssa Cole's When No One Is Watching (2020), Summer on Sag Harbor will appeal to readers wanting an escape with a little depth. Readers who know Hostin from The View will clamor for this summer read." — Booklist
“Hostin’s debut novel is aspirational escapism at its best, balancing an idyllic setting and lush, evocative language with emotional heft and adroit social commentary… Hostin’s story is a vast, intricate and ultimately rewarding one about love, family and self-fulfillment... In short, this book is summer incarnate.” — New York Times Book Review on Summer on the Bluffs
“A complicated, memorable tale of family, allegiances, secrets and summertime.” — Good Morning America on Summer on the Bluffs
“The Emmy Award–winning lawyer and journalist invites readers to the exclusive Black beach community of Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, where the money is old, the secrets are deadly, and summer is more of a sport than a season…Think The Undoing with a hint of melanin, where everyone’s wearing $300 sandals.” — Essence on Summer on the Bluffs
“The highly anticipated summer must-read from the talented co-host of The View is finally here… No one, including the reader, is prepared for the feelings and secrets exchanged in this novel about love, family, and the courage to make the hardest of decisions.” — Shondaland on Summer on the Bluffs
“Bestselling author and The View cohost Sunny Hostin has penned the ultimate beach read in Summer on the Bluffs.” — Popsugar
“This glorious piece of summer fiction takes us to Oak Bluffs, a slice of the island that’s been home to the Black community elite for summers since the 1600s. Come for the ethereal setting and beautifully drawn characters, stay for the family dynamics, personal secrets and wisdom revealed.” — Boston Herald
“Emmy-winning co-host of The View, Sunny Hostin invites readers to Martha’s Vineyard in her fiction debut…what follows is a summer full of secrets that puts family ties to the ultimate test.” — Woman's World
Good Morning America on Summer on the Bluffs
A complicated, memorable tale of family, allegiances, secrets and summertime.
New York Times Book Review on Summer on the Bluffs
Hostin’s debut novel is aspirational escapism at its best, balancing an idyllic setting and lush, evocative language with emotional heft and adroit social commentary… Hostin’s story is a vast, intricate and ultimately rewarding one about love, family and self-fulfillment... In short, this book is summer incarnate.
Shondaland on Summer on the Bluffs
The highly anticipated summer must-read from the talented co-host of The View is finally here… No one, including the reader, is prepared for the feelings and secrets exchanged in this novel about love, family, and the courage to make the hardest of decisions.
Essence on Summer on the Bluffs
The Emmy Award–winning lawyer and journalist invites readers to the exclusive Black beach community of Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, where the money is old, the secrets are deadly, and summer is more of a sport than a season…Think The Undoing with a hint of melanin, where everyone’s wearing $300 sandals.
Shondaland
The highly anticipated summer must-read from the talented co-host of The View is finally here… No one, including the reader, is prepared for the feelings and secrets exchanged in this novel about love, family, and the courage to make the hardest of decisions.
Popsugar
Bestselling author and The View cohost Sunny Hostin has penned the ultimate beach read in Summer on the Bluffs.
Essence
The Emmy Award-winning lawyer and journalist invites readers to the exclusive Black beach community of Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard where the money is old, the secrets are deadly, and summer is more of a sport than a season…Think The Undoing with a hint of melanin, where everyone’s wearing $300 sandals.
Woman's World
Emmy-winning co-host of The View, Sunny Hostin invites readers to Martha’s Vineyard in her fiction debut…what follows is a summer full of secrets that puts family ties to the ultimate test.
Good Morning America
A complicated, memorable tale of family, allegiances, secrets and summertime.
Boston Herald
This glorious piece of summer fiction takes us to Oak Bluffs, a slice of the island that’s been home to the Black community elite for summers since the 1600s. Come for the ethereal setting and beautifully drawn characters, stay for the family dynamics, personal secrets and wisdom revealed.
New York Times Book Review
Hostin’s debut novel is aspirational escapism at its best, balancing an idyllic setting and lush, evocative language with emotional heft and adroit social commentary… Hostin’s story is a vast, intricate and ultimately rewarding one about love, family and self-fulfillment... In short, this book is summer incarnate.
Kirkus Reviews
2023-03-14
An elite Black enclave in the Hamptons welcomes its newest resident, hoping she’ll help preserve the integrity of the community.
When investment banking whiz Olivia Jones arrives in Sag Harbor (packing her Sergio Hudson mohair poncho, her Dior limited edition tote, and other brand-name essentials) to claim the home she's inherited from her late godfather, she quickly bonds with the longtime residents—other wealthy, accomplished Black women as well as a genial older real estate agent, a gentleman with connections to her family and memories of the father Olivia never knew. Not fitting in quite as easily is Anderson, Olivia's White boyfriend, an Uber driver and stand-up comedian. Though the two got along great during lockdown in Manhattan and “his words and presence were like chamomile lavender tea on a cold winter night” and his “cheekbones [could] cut diamonds,” poor Anderson simply is not going to be able to hold his own against new next-door neighbor Garrett Brooks, a Black single dad and veritable love god. Garrett was just about to sign a deal to sell his home to the real estate developers who are trying to take over the area, but the arrival of the exquisite Olivia, and her alliance with the locals who are fighting the developers, seems poised to press pause on those plans. Meanwhile, Olivia starts therapy with the insightful Dr. LaGrange to work herself free of the burdens she bears due to a pyramid of losses and betrayals in her past. The family history is complicated and will be quite a bit easier to follow if you've recently read the first book in the series, Summer on the Bluffs (2021), which introduces Olivia's godparents and their three talented goddaughters, setting up the history of secrets and connections that continue to unfold here. A few steamy bedroom scenes provide all the “velvet hammer sliding into silk” and ice-cream-cone metaphors you could ever want.
The political and social dynamics of Sag Harbor are fascinating even if some of the writing is a bit eye-rolling.
