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| Credit: Deborah Feingold |
We're pleased to have Brooke Lea Foster back at CLC today to talk about her latest novel, Our Last Vineyard Summer. Fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Amy Mason Doan will appreciate this compelling story (based on the buzz we've been hearing). Thanks to Gallery, we have THREE copies up for grabs!
Brooke Lea Foster is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post Magazine, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe Magazine, and People, among others. An alumna of The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, she is the author of three nonfiction books and the novels Summer Darlings, On Gin Lane, and All the Summers In Between.
After suffering through her first year of graduate school at Columbia following her senator father’s death, Betsy Whiting is hoping to spend the summer with her boyfriend…and hopefully end the summer as his fiancée. Instead, her mother—a longtime feminist and leader in the women’s movement—calls Betsy and her sisters back home to Martha’s Vineyard, announcing that they need to sell their beloved summer house to pay off their father’s debts.
When Betsy arrives on the island a week later, she must reckon with her strained familial relationships, a long-ago forbidden romance, and the complicated legacy of her parents, who divided the family even as they did good for the world.
Following a dual timeline between 1965 and 1978, and filled with the vibrant, sunlit nostalgia of the cherished New England vacation setting, Our Last Vineyard Summer poignantly captures two generations of women navigating love, loss, and womanhood while trying to find the courage to stand up for what they believe in—and the strength to decide if the home they once loved is worth saving. (Courtesy of Amazon.)
"With a perfect blend of secrets, misdeeds, and unexpected love, Brooke Lea Foster has crafted a gripping, timely story that will captivate readers from start to finish."
--Amy Poeppel, author of Far and Away
"Brooke Lea Foster’s Our Last Vineyard Summer has all my favorite book ingredients—intriguing mother-daughter dynamics, a vivid Martha’s Vineyard setting, a gripping dual timeline and, best of all, a family secret bombshell that I never saw coming."
--Martha Hall Kelly, New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls
"Foster depicts two generations of women who are stubborn and smart, vulnerable and competitive, but she does so with compassion and wit that makes you cheer them on until the end."
--Jo Piazza, internationally bestselling author of The Sicilian Inheritance
A note from Brooke:
Hi! Thank you so much for having me today! I’m so excited to talk to you about Our Last Vineyard Summer. This is a book so close to my heart. I keep saying that this is the novel I was meant to write. Even if it’s my fourth book, it’s probably my most autobiographical novel in some ways. For example, I am one of three sisters. Like the Whiting family, I lived in Washington, DC, and was immersed in politics for most of my twenties and thirties, but I vacationed in Martha’s Vineyard. Most of all, I took my own experiences about the complications of family relationships and sister baggage and all of that stuff we carry around with us and worked it into this book. Now on to the questions!
Hi! Thank you so much for having me today! I’m so excited to talk to you about Our Last Vineyard Summer. This is a book so close to my heart. I keep saying that this is the novel I was meant to write. Even if it’s my fourth book, it’s probably my most autobiographical novel in some ways. For example, I am one of three sisters. Like the Whiting family, I lived in Washington, DC, and was immersed in politics for most of my twenties and thirties, but I vacationed in Martha’s Vineyard. Most of all, I took my own experiences about the complications of family relationships and sister baggage and all of that stuff we carry around with us and worked it into this book. Now on to the questions!
What is a favorite compliment you received on your writing?
It’s funny because I have a tendency to remember the negative things people have said about my writing rather than the good. Isn’t that something women do? We’re our own greatest critic. One truly nice thing. I’ve had several people tell me is that, when they finished my book, they were disappointed that it ended. To me, that’s the hallmark of great characters and a fantastic story. You’re so immersed in it that you don’t want it to end. I’ve also been told I write telling dialogue, which makes me smile since I was a former journalist and spent two decades listening to people talk before I wrote my first novel.
What is one thing you would tell the debut novelist version of yourself?
Ooh. Another great question. I would say: You’ve been a writer since you were a little girl, and you’re a writer still. Follow your heart, tell a great story, and put everything you have into building complicated characters. All of this work will make someone see themselves differently or feel a little less lonely or maybe even inspire them to make a change in their life. Fiction can transform people. It’s transformed you, hasn’t it?
If Our Last Vineyard Summer were made into a movie, what songs would be on the soundtrack?
When I was writing this novel, I kept listening to Benson Boone’s song “Ghost Town.” I know it’s strange because it’s a contemporary song, but it has this line that says something like . . . “before I turn your heart into a ghost town, I’m going to take everything we built and tear it all down.” It was an anthem for this book. I felt like I was creating this ultra-close-knit family who loved each other dearly and then, in the interest of the plot, I was tearing it all down. It sort of broke my heart. Yet it made for a really powerful story. Another song on this album would have to be: “Me and Bobby McGee.” The sisters would definitely be belting that out in the kitchen while making breakfast. Maybe “You’re so Vain” by Carly Simon or “I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King. These feel very emblematic of the kind of emotions running through the course of the novel, and since the book is set in 1965 and 1978, they feel vintage-cool enough to set the scene.
If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it?
I’ve never thought of myself as a character, but it reminds me of my teenage son telling me a kid in his school thinks he’s the “main character.” Ha! Okay, I would say that if I was the main character, it would have to be Jennifer Garner. I’m a mom; I’m a mix of goofy, fun loving and generous; and I’m a very authentic person. Jen Garner is all of those things to me, so I could see her nailing my constant inner chatter.
If we were to visit you right now, what are some places you would take us to see?
I would definitely whisk you off to Martha’s Vineyard. We would stop at Titcomb’s Bookshop along the way to pick some novels out on the Cape. We’d board the boat in Wood’s Hole with a stop for a lobster roll just before traveling across Vineyard Sound by ferry. When we got off the ferry, I’d take you straight to State Beach, the perfect eclipse of sand that sits between Oak Bluffs with its colorful antique gingerbread houses and Edgartown, the toniest town with its postcard-perfect colonials with white picket fences. For the rest of the week, I would take you on a bike ride to Morning Glory Farm to buy a bouquet of wildflowers. We would drive to North Tisbury Farms for my favorite chocolate chip cookies. Every night we would finish the day watching sunset on the porch with a glass of crisp white wine. Perfection!
What is the last book you read that you would recommend?
I’m halfway through The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater and I love everything about it. It’s historical fiction. It’s literary. It takes place in West Virginia at a luxury hotel. There’s so much going on and it’s so atmospheric that I can’t put it down.
Thanks to Brooke for chatting with us and to Gallery for sharing her book with our readers.
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