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Sebastian Ritscher
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THE HIGH SEASON

Judy Blundell

THE HIGH SEASON is the ultimate summer read—featuring indelible characters, crackling wit, and sophisticated storytelling—about one season when everything in a woman's life goes wrong. It’s perfect for fans of J. Courtney Sullivan, and readers who loved Emma Straub’s THE VACATIONERS, and Cynthia d’Aprix Sweeney’s THE NEST.
On Memorial Day weekend in a seaside town on Long Island, Ruthie, her still-adored ex-husband, Mike, and the couple's sullen 15-year-old daughter, Jem, are packing up the last bits of their household in preparation for the yearly arrival of a wealthy renter from Manhattan. It is what Jem calls "the summer bummer": her parents own a beautiful house that they have renovated by hand from top to bottom, but which they can only afford to keep by leasing it out during the best part of the year.

Soon Ruthie's relationship with Mike seems about to disappear for good. The job she loves, as the underpaid and undervalued director of the local arts museum, is under siege from a coterie of rich women from the city, who want to use it as an opportunity for social climbing. An old flame who once broke her heart and betrayed her is back on the scene, causing Ruthie to re-evaluate their romance. And in the midst of it all, her teenage daughter Jem could be involved in a dangerous and destructive relationship of her own.

This is a novel about the dreams and ambitions of youth coming to terms with the realities of middle-age; about the way desperation can make us astonish ourselves; and about how the most disruptive events in our lives can sometimes twist endings into new beginnings.

Judy Blundell won the National Book Award in 2008 for her YA novel WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED. Her novel PREMONITIONS was an American Library Association Reluctant Readers Best Picks and was chosen by the New York Public Library as a 2004 Best Books for the Teen Age. As a YA author, Blundell has written several books for the New York Times bestselling 39 Clues series.
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Book

Published 2018-05-22 by Random House

Book

Published 2018-05-22 by Random House

Comments

Ruthie's journey is especially satisfying. . . . Blundell's engrossing novel has enough high-society proximity to make it beachy, but enough emotional reality to make it resonate.

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Russian: AST

Judy Blundell's debut novel The High Season will hit the summer like a blazing comet of wit, poignancy and lines that make one stop and sizzle with awe. I'm a fan of Judy Blundell for life!

In YA novelist Blundell's (What I Saw and How I Lied) first book for adults, the author makes the most of her clever plot while taking a scathing look at the art and museum world and tossing off observations that witty readers will want to underline. This sophisticated and delicious portrayal of subtle class warfare at the shore would make a perfect beach book, but it's a pleasure to read any time.

The High Season is a courant page turner about a family on Long Island's North Folk who rent out their ocean front home to the wealthy, as they struggle to hold on to it for future generations. The beating heart of this story is Ruthie, middle-aged and at a crossroads, wondering if her every decision, personal and professional has been a mistake.You will revel in the human drama and comedy of this skillfully told tale. Wise, funny and insightful, Judy Blundell tells the story of one woman that says something about all of us, our aspirations and the delicate state of the American dream.

Judy Blundell wields words like an oyster knife in this shimmering story of art, money and celebrity. This is wicked summer fun.

The High Season is touching, funny, and emotionally precise, recognizable yet full of surprises. Change comes to Orient Point and the lives of the people who live there like a hurricane. Then a hurricane comes, too! Forget the Hamptons. Blundell's North Shores is where the real drama - and fun - blows in.

Sharply observed and beautifully written, The High Season is like a cold martini on a hot summer night: Refreshing and intoxicating at the same time.

A wry, often hilarious story of a woman trying to keep it together when everything is going so, so wrong.

The High Season by Judy Blundell is a wickedly good read, hilarious, poignant, and insightful, with a breath-taking finale. If you've ever served on a committee, or lived in a resort town, or had friends or parents or children or an infuriating spouse, you will love this book. I did!

Blundell's latest is her first novel for adults, and she brings to it much more than just believable teen characters. As this accomplished, engrossing domestic drama begins, North Fork resident Ruthie is losing it all. . . . Blundell has more balls in the air than most writers could smoothly handlea Patek Philippe watch, lost then stolen; a forged painting; a character with a deeply buried, sordid past; lots of art-world specificsbut the story never feels overstuffed, and she steers confidently toward a satisfying blend of happy and imperfect endings. . . . Luscious but not too sweet, astute but not too serious, Blundell's novel is a treat you don't have to feel guilty about and a sign of good things to come.