The Second Home by Christina Clancy
Summary
After a disastrous summer spent at her family's summer home on Cape Cod, seventeen year old Ann Gordon is left harboring a secret that changes her life forever, and creates a rift between her sister, Poppy, and their adopted brother, Michael.
Now, fifteen years later, her parents have died, and Ann and her sister Poppy are left to decide the fate of the old Wellfleet home that's been in the Gordon family for generations. While they both love the house, they decide to sell it and move forward.
But then Michael re-enters their lives with a legitimate claim to a third of the estate. He wants the house. But more than that, he wants to set the record straight about that long ago summer.
Reunited after years apart, these very different siblings are forced to decide if they can continue to be a family--and in the process, they'll discover that the house might be the glue that holds them together.
Book Setting: Wellfleet & Orleans, MA
Drummer Cove: Ann can see Drummer Cove from her bedroom window at the Cape House. Ann, Brad, Poppy, Michael and Noah went to spread their parents ashes here
Blackfish Creek: Ann would roll down her car windows when she got to Blackfish Creek so she could smell the Cape. Michael would take her daughter Avery to Blackfish Creek for walks
Lieutenant Island: Noah took Ann’s car to Lieutenant Island which caused Ann to run into Michael at the house
Mayo Beach: Michael took swimming lessons at Mayo Beach
Nauset Beach: Anthony would drive his Jeep on Nauset Beach
Indian Neck Beach: Michael and Jason would go to Indian Neck Beach after the end of the work day
White Crest Beach: Ann and Michael would stop here to watch the surfers on the way to the Shaw’s house
Lecount Hollow Beach: Poppy met Dirk and his surfer friends here. Poppy surfed here with Kit for the first time after her accident
Marconi Wireless Station: Poppy and Michael went for a walk and reconnected here
Jeremy Point: Ann and her family would picnic at Jeremy Point in the summer
Dyer Pond: Poppy showed Michael how to get to Dyer Pond by the fire roads
Duck Pond: The pond where the incident between Ann and Anthony occurred
The Wicked Oyster: Where Maureen and Anthony went out to dinner while Ann was babysitting
Bomb Shelter: Where Poppy and Kit would hang out after surfing all day
Reviews
“I gobbled The Second Home in a matter of days, fully invested in the history, hurt, and hopes of this very human family. Christina Clancy writes with empathy and rich detail: to read about the Gordons is to smell the pine and oak of Wellfleet, to tread the well-worn rooms of their eccentric summer home, and to learn all sides of the explosive rift that sent them hurtling in different directions. Tender and suspenseful, Clancy's debut explores the nature of home as well as the nature of family itself―given and chosen."
―Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists
“Every Wellfleet sand dune, every breeze and beach and pond, came alive for me in this beautiful, heartbreaking debut about a Milwaukee family’s complicated history with their summer home. Christina Clancy’s characters are so real and flawed, so caught between the darkness and the light, that they step right off the page, and you won’t rest until you know what becomes of them.”
―Meg Mitchell Moore, author of The Admissions and The Islanders
“From the first pages of The Second Home, it’s abundantly clear that Christina Clancy has an abiding love for outer Cape Cod, which she conjures in all its bluster and beauty. But as this compelling novel progresses, it also becomes obvious that Clancy has a keen awareness of how secrets can tear apart even the closest of families. Drawn in by the exquisitely-rendered setting, I was riveted by this stirring, family drama.
―Karen Dukess, author of The Last Book Party