loving this book!!! so easy. grabbed me right from the beginning. one the characters! setting, story! great to share with book clubs. lots to discuss. i highly recommend this book

The Second Home by Christina Clancy is her debut novel set on Cape Cod. At the heart of the story it centers on a beloved family’s summer home and the summer that changed the lives of the family forever.

The setting of the story is between the years 1999 and 2015. Ms. Clancy does an excellent job transporting the reader to Cape Cod. The author is awesome in creating the smell of the ocean, the crashing of the waves in such rich detail you can see everything she is describing in your minds eye. (Definitely read the acknowledgements so you understand her connection to the Cape.)

This is a family in turmoil, flux and change. The author has created characters that are ill equipt to handle their complex lives. There are three narrators—Ann and Poppy and Michael. A mini-saga if you will. It is a story of human insecurities, frailties, selfishness, immaturity and the basic human need to be loved. There is love but also resentment, mistrust, disrespect and a total lack of communication. The story is so very raw and emotional. There are times you will find that you are yelling or whispering at the characters to offer sympathy or warning. The family is one you will remember with all their faults. In the end it all felt very authentic. Something that could happen to any family which is why it feels so very real.

The Second Home was a terrific debut novel. From the plot, the prose, the author’s beautiful writing style and execution this book did not read or feel like a debut novel at all.

I enjoyed this one and I think this author is well on her way to making a name for herself. This would make for a great summer read. Well Done. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us.

Thank you to NetGalley, Christina Clancy, and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ann’s life drastically changes one fateful evening when she’s a teenager during her summer at the Cove. The ripple effect of what happens changes her entire family. Michael disappears, and Poppy, who was in the beginnings of acting out, takes to a life of surfing anywhere but home. Told in alternating timelines of the past and the present, we watch the family come to terms with the changes in their lives. We see how the past has shaped them into the people they are today as they learn the art of forgiveness.

While the pace was sometimes slow, the message of trusting your gut, of not jumping to conclusions, and of loving your family is very strong in The Second Home. Ann was a very standoffish person, and I understand why she was that way, but her refusal to listen to Poppy or Michael was very off-putting. Certain things that Anthony did were a stretch. I’m sure sometimes in life what he did does happen, but the way things went so smoothly for him was just too much. The incident that fractures the family is one that could easily happen, and no one worked to get to the bottom of it, which was saddening.

I loved how descriptive the book was. It made me want to visit the Cove. I think the girls’ parents were wonderful characters. When Poppy fully came into play, she made a great addition to the story. All the characters are well written and Clancy brought them to life on the page. Overall, this was a heartwarming and touching read. Thank you, St. Martin’s for sending this along!

A family is torn apart and brought back together again in this beautifully crafted story about love, forgiveness, and the power of childhood memories. All of the main characters are deeply flawed, yet relatable despite their misgivings, and I felt myself rooting them (especially Michael!) Heartfelt, powerful, and with vivid descriptions that touch upon all of the senses, Clancy brings you right to the edge of the Cape and into the hearts of Ann, Poppy, and Michael. I absolutely adored this book. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the chance to read this unputdownable book.

I’ll pick up anything resembling a beach read, so the Cape Cod setting was perfect. The plot and characters left me wanting a little more, though.

This debut novel reads like it was written by a seasoned author. It paints the story of a tight family who falls apart after disastrous events one summer during their annual family vacation at their summer home on Cape Cod. Many years later this house is the catalyst that helps the siblings find their way back.

Christina Clancy's debut novel will have readers both intrigued by and invested in the well-loved Cape Cod summer home and the members of the Gordon family who faithfully traveled there each summer long after the final pages end. Fans of J. Courtney Sullivan and Jennifer Weiner will delight in this novel, releasing June 2, 2020.

The Second Home is both a novel of family complexity and secrets as well as a novel of place. The time spent at their beloved home in Wellfleet, Cape Cod forever altered the future of three siblings.

The Gordon family lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ed and Connie are both teachers and they love spending their summers at their centuries old family home in Cape Cod. Their daughters, Ann and Poppy, are about as different as sisters can be, but they enjoyed a childhood together. Now in their teens, the dynamic between them has shifted a bit. Much of the reason for the shift is Michael Davis. Ann encouraged her family to take Michael under their wing, and he fit in so well, that he was later adopted at the age of sixteen. Michael's past was brutal and full of unbelievable pain. His father, a boxer, was injured into a vegetative state during a boxing match, never coming back home or even saying goodbye. His mother's new boyfriend took pleasure in beating and abusing Michael. Michael was alone with his mother, as she died from AIDS, and then truly alone after that. He never really knew love until the Gordon's welcomed him into their orbit, and he really could hardly believe his luck.

We begin with Ann in the summer of 2000. Excited to earn some money, Ann takes a babysitting job for the wealthy Shaw family. Though she finds it hard to admit to herself, Ann loved Michael more than she should now that he is her "brother," but she is unable to express it. Instead, she lavishes the attention from, Anthony Shaw, the wealthy father of the children she babysits, which constitutes more or less driving them all over the island in the family's Jag. When she is with the Shaw's, Ann feels important and respected, until the night that everything changes. Ashamed, scared, and betrayed by a horrible situation, Ann finds herself unable to ever fully cope with the pain of that fateful summer on Cape Cod.

Poppy has recently been feeling left out by all the attention that Ann receives, and she grows closer to Michael, enjoying the time they spend together, bonding with her new brother. But then she meets Kit, a local surfer, who introduces her into a whole new world of surfing, partying, drinking, and drugs. Realizing that she is made for surfing, Polly comes into her own, purposefully leaving her family behind and traveling all over the world. She becomes estranged from Ann, Michael, and her parents, only coming home once in a decade.

The remainder of the book takes place in 2015, when as adults, Ann and Poppy must converge back on the Wellfleet summer home to get it ready to sell, after the tragic death of their parents. In the process, the truth of what really happened 15 years ago comes to light. Now they just need Michael to fill in the missing piece of what is left of their family.

This story has it all - blackmail and secrets, loss and heartbreak, beautiful settings and descriptions of beaches and coves, love and romance, healing and forgiveness, hope, and the unshakable bonds of family.

THE SECOND HOME by Christina Clancy left me with a book hangover. I cannot move on; I want to stay with Anne, Poppy and Michael.

I was drawn to Cape Cod and the Gordon Family from Wisconsin from the first page to the very last sentence. I adored the parents, the kids and the locale. Having visited the Outer Cape many times and loving the aspects Ms. Clancy so vividly brings to life made this book resonate with me in a way I have not been touched by a book in a long time. Cape Cod became a character, an integral part of the book and I cannot wait to visit again.

I could not put this book down , which is unfortunate because I really wanted to savor this book, to spend as much time as possible with a group of people I became very invested in. Ms. Clancy's writing is wonderful, lyrical, easy to absorb.

Read this book, savor this book, live in this book. I will recommend this book to everyone who will listen. Should be required reading before a visit to the Outer Cape.

This story took me on an emotional roller coaster full of dark family drama. I had an idea of where the story was going but that did not diminish the gut punch I felt when I got to the reveals. I had trouble connecting with the characters at the beginning but for the most part they became more relatable as the story unfolded. I found myself being drawn more to Poppy and Michael’s characters than I did to Ann.

Ann is a liar and a manipulator. She completely railroads her siblings while taking over management of her parent’s estate. I can see why her siblings chose to stay away all those years and the fact that they forgive her at all makes them better people than me. Her serious problem with communication is just one of the many flaws that I found frustrating throughout the book. The chapters for the three siblings are narrated separately and I caught myself rushing through Ann’s part of the story so I could find out what was happening with the other two. Poppy and Michael are what made this such a good read. They are both very damaged but so endearing that I couldn’t help but feel bad for them having to deal with Hurricane Ann. It was especially heartwarming to read about Poppy’s journey. Out of all three of the main characters I was most pleased with how her story wrapped up. I’m glad she was able to find what she traveled the world searching for.

Christina Clancy’s writing is richly detailed and pairs well with the Cape Cod setting to tell a superb story about a hauntingly beautiful family. Despite a couple inconsistencies this is an amazing debut and I can’t wait to read what she comes up with next.

A Cape Cod setting and a family drama was what enticed me to request this book from the publisher and Netgalley. The Gordon family has spend every summer in their old, but quaint, run down house on the Cape. They have two daughters, Ann and Poppy, and later they adopted a teenage son named Michael. They all loved and cherished their family time together. Everything changed the summer Ann took on a summer babysitting job. She experienced a life changing trauma that forever changed their family dynamics. Secrets and misunderstandings caused a major family rift.
Years later the estranged siblings must face what really happened that fateful summer. The Second Home at the Cape once again proves to be the one place where the Gordon siblings can get back what they lost so many years ago.
I think this book will make a great summer beach read. There were times when I became so frustrated with the characters and their choices but this just seemed to make me want to read on. My review is unbiased and not based on receiving an advanced reader’s copy.

This was a sleeper; I did not expect this story to develop into near the book that it did. The first 30% is just so so, but somewhere around this time there is one sentence that opens up the mystery factor and increases the level of investment and interest.
There are many pros in this book, the story is well written, the character development is good, I especially enjoyed learning and getting to know Ann, Michael and Poppy, and just when you think you know them, the story takes a notch up again. What you thought you knew, is now not what it seems.
This is a struggling family drama with so many secrets and misunderstandings, will they ever figure out what is the truth or just what they think is the truth. I can’t really explain why this book hit the spot with me, but it did. I will remember this one for a long time. Great ending!!!!
I want to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book for my honest unbiased opinion. Well worth the read, it’s a 5-star book.

"The Second Home" is the story of the 3 siblings of the Gordon family- oldest sister Ann, who is known as "Anne with a plan"; Poppy, the younger, carefree sister who looked up to Ann growing up; and adopted son Michael, who joined the family while he was in high school after the death of his mother from HIV. Every summer the Gordon family traveled from Milwaukee to their summer home on Cape Cod, and it is there, just after Ann and Michael's junior year of high school, where there whole lives change, and the siblings become estranged from one another, leaving Michael to unexpectedly leave the family. Years later, Ann and Poppy are brought together in an effort to sell the Cape Cod home after their parents die in a car crash, and Michael unexpectedly re-enters their lives in an effort to lay his claim on the home as well, leaving the 3 siblings to uncover the lies and secrets that had led to their estrangement all those years ago.

Overall I really liked this book, though at times found ;myself wanted to yell "Why are you doing that??" at one of the characters,and reminding myself that they were just teenagers at that particular time in the story. It was a good family drama full of secrets, and I love the Cape Cod setting that it took place in. It was a good debut book by Christina Clancy, and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review. "The Second Home:" is set to be released on June 2, 2020.

Family drama about the Gordon family, the parents Ed and Connie, two daughters Ann and Poppy and their adopted son Michael. They are from Milwaukee, Wisconsin but most of the story was set in their vacation home in Cape Cod.

It was told in the present and the past, lots of teenage drama along with adult drama. Lots of misunderstandings with twists and turns and secrets. The beginning starts off rather slow, I wanted to give up but not my style to I continued on. By the end I was invested into the story and the characters. Just know this is not a lighthearted read lots of real-life issues.

This book was a unique and fascinating read on family dynamics. Ann, Poppy and Michael are siblings, not traditional, as Michael was adopted when he was 16. This created tensions between the three of them. While Ann and Michael both tried to deny that there was a spark/tension of feelings between them, they threw themselves into summer activities to try to stay busy. Meanwhile, Poppy began feeling that her parents spent so much time trying to get Michael to feel a part of the family, and Ann was aloof, so she turned to new friends and unhealthy recreational activities.
The family tradition they all loved was spending their summers at Wellfleet, their summer home was on the beach and they all felt like it was a place they could be themselves. The last summer they were all there together, everything changed. Ann and Michael were both 17 years old, trying to enjoy their last summer before their Senior year. While Ann decided to take up babysitting, Michael was spending more time with his adoptive father. Ann builds a flirtation relationship with the father of the boys she has been watching, and Michael takes notice that something isn't right. After one bad night, Ann is upset and goes to Michael's room because he is her best friend. They fall asleep in the same bed and their parents catch them and assume the worst. When Ann ends up pregnant, tempers fly and a secret starts that tears the family apart.
Now as adults, they find out their parents died together in a car accident and Ann takes over making decisions about the property. When Michael finds out that Ann is trying to sell the house, he finally decides it's time to talk to his sisters again, but can they fix what those secrets destroyed?
This book was written in a very interesting point of view. We get to read from all 3 siblings perspectives and how they each went in their own ways after that one summer. This book touches upon some taboo topics as well as some sensitive material that might make readers uncomfortable, but as a work of fiction, the author did a great job. Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Christina Clancy for the change to read and review this book!

Great summer beach read. Characters were very relatable. Beautifully written story of a family and their homes . A family secret a family torn apart and an ending that hopefully brings more of their story

This is the story of the Gordon family from Milwaukee. They summer on Cape Cod in a house that's been in the family for generations. One summer, everything falls apart and they are never the same again.

This book is a hard one to rate. I liked the story and characters, mostly, but there are glaring holes/errors that I couldn't get past.

When Michael is orphaned, how does he possibly escape protective service? Even if the Gordons were going to adopt him (which they did), there would have been more to it. Ann is able to get houses put on the market when there is no will and siblings exist who haven't signed off on anything? And why oh why do Ann and Michael take the word of a known horrible person instead of taking a minute (literally, a minute would have done it) to ask one another what's going on?

So, while I liked the premise and really enjoyed the love letter to the Cape, I can't give this one more than 3 stars.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love the setting of this story, an old beach cottage on the outer banks of Cape Cod. Christina Clancy goes in great detail about the lifestyles of living in Cape Cod, both in and out of season. It’s a truly enjoyable setting for her story.
The Gordon family always spent their summers at their old, reliable summer cottage. But during the summer of the oldest sister, Ann’s seventeenth year, events were especially difficult; the long term effects permanently changing the trajectory of everyone’s lives.
Fifteen years later, the parents are killed in a car accident. The sisters, Ann and Poppy, must agree to work together and prepare the cottage for sale.
As the story unfolds, looking back to that summer then jumping to the current tensions of each character, it becomes painfully obvious that a sad and evil deed by a very cruel person caused permanent damage to each person. The haunting effects reverberated through the years, and you, the reader, want so badly to set these people straight with one another. The frustration grows along with the tensions, misconceptions, and wasted years, weaving a very emotional and consuming story, and an excellent choice for a summertime beach read.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for making it available.)

The Second Home by Christina Clancy is an unputdownable read. The beginning is unbearably slow, so much so that I was about to DNF the book. But as the story progressed, the reader in me was so engulfed that I just had to finish it before I could get on with my life. It is a five star read if not for its snail-paced start.

The plot spans around two decades, and sees the characters in their teens as well as in their adult life when they are struggling to find the will of their dead parents that decides the fate of their property. The story is narrated by the three siblings, one of whom is adopted and eventually strays away from the family due to unforeseen circumstances, misunderstandings, and lack of communication, eventually resulting in a strained relationship which constitutes the main theme of the story.

The characters were realistic. One of the narrators was not really likeable, which I guess, was what the story needed.

Thanks for the author and the publisher for the eARC.

Verdict: Highly recommended.

this was a great debut novel, the story was so moving and I really loved the characters that I really related to.

The story begins in the past, when Ann, Michael, and Poppy are in high school. Michael's mother passed away and instead of being tossed around, the Gordon's take him in. His second summer with them, he learns that they aren't as "perfect" as everyone thinks. Everyone has their secrets, everyone. When Connie and Ed pass away, the kids reunite after fifteen years. These kids, once best of friends, are now like oil and water. So many secrets has kept them apart, can they finally clear the air?

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was riveting, emotional, and thought provoking. I liked the toggle from past to present as each character reflected on their past. This book had me tearing up as the things they had been through were brought to light. This is a fantastic beach or rainy day read, just be sure to kleenex nearby.