The Second Home by Christina Clancy is a wonderful fictional novel that is about family, love, forgiveness, acceptance, and second chances.

I enjoyed reading about the dynamics and interplay between Ann, Poppy, and Michael. The paths that they have led to bring them to where they are at this point and how they were able to overcome and move forward was powerful and beautiful. The ending was fabulous and perfect.

The author was able to invoke such passion and emotion for me in the telling of the three siblings from their alternating viewpoints, and I was hooked from beginning to end.

Great book.

5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

A lovely story about family relationships. Ann and Poppie are sisters who welcome Michael into the family. They are all teenagers who live in Milwaukee and have a summer home in South Wellfleet on Cape Cod. Michael and Ann are in love but since they are “brother and sister” they don’t act on it. Ann becomes a babysitter for a wealthy family for the summer while they are on the Cape. She flirts with the husband and ends up being raped by him. She becomes pregnant and when she tells the father he concocts a story implicating Michael. Michael is forced to disappear and take the blame for Ann’s pregnancy. Poppie meanwhile is getting into surfing and drugs. Poppie is a free spirit who leaves and travels the world and doesn’t keep in contact with her family. Michael ends up back at the Cape but in hiding. The parents are killed in an accident returning to Milwaukee. Ann emails Poppie who doesn’t receive the email immediately. When Ann can’t find a will she is forced to sell both residents. Poppie returns 6 months later to sell the Milwaukee property and finds Brad living in the house. Brad and Poppie fall in love but Poppie can’t commit to Brad. Brad eventually decides to buy the property and Poppie leaves to go to Cape Cod. Ann and Poppie are estranged by this time and have different opinions on selling the cottage. Michael has a daughter by this time and finds out that Connie and Ed have died. Ann hasn’t listed Michael as a co-owner of the cottage on the real estate listing. When Michael finds this out there is all sorts of interaction between all three. Eventually the will is found and the cottage has been put into a trust for the grandchildren. Ann thinks good, Noah has got the cottage and she won’t have to let Michael have anything to do with it. That’s when Ann is told about Michael’s daughter. The court rules that Ann and Michael must share the cottage on a biweekly basis. Poppie meanwhile asks Michael received a payoff from mr. Shaw and Michael whose is on a telephone call says yes but Poppie doesn’t give him the chance to explain. Poppie then takes off again to Portugal leaving Brad behind. Eventually the truth comes out about the pregnancy and Ann and Michael work out their differences. Poppie finds out she is pregnant and plans to return to Milwaukee in the future. The story is about lies and how they can effect relationships. Thank you to St. Martin Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

This is a beautifully written novel from Christina Clancy, a new author. The Gordons are a nice family with hard working parents, two lovely teenage daughters, and a newly adopted teenage son. They travel each summer from Milwaukee to a family home on Cape Cod. This home is as important as the human characters. Ms. Clancy has a wonderful sense of time and place. You can almost feel the ocean breeze on Cape Cod, either bitterly blowing in the winter or cooling the air in the summer. Each character is very real with flaws and deep emotions. The novel explores what it means to be a family -- through blood, adoption, friendship, or love. Thank you to Goodreads, Net Galley, and St. Martins Press for an early copy.

THE SECOND HOME follows three very different siblings in a summer house on Cape Cod. I was expecting a complex family saga full of secrets and emotion but I ended up with a quite superficial and flat plot. I wanted to read more depth in the characters' development. While I understood a bit the author's intention in focusing the characters, I couldn't connect with them and disliked Ann - I found her actions annoying and childish at times. I felt that the story line was missing something and I was always expecting some truth to be revealed. Although I didn't love the twist in the end, the ending was wrapped up in a realistic and beautiful way. The author approaches some great topics such as grief, forgiveness, family and love.

This book is perfect for readers looking for a slow burn family saga.

A summer home with so many memories .Two sisters who have drifted apart a reunion a time to heal so many emotional moments so much to heal.A warm wonderful read a book I didn’t want to end.#netgalley#The secondhome.

Eh. I wanted to like this a lot but it fell flat for me. The book follows the lives of the Gordon family who have a summer house on the cape.
There were a ton of plot holes and the ending was wrapped too neatly in a bow to be believable. None of the characters were fleshed out enough.

An author to keep your eye on! The Second Home by Christina Clancy is a beautifully written book told from multiple points of view. I predict this will be the book club pick for at least one major book club (Reese’s book club or maybe Read With Jenna?). This will be ideal summer reading as it comes out late spring/early summer. Its books like this which make me want to step up my writing game!

Synopsis:

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.

What a gifted storyteller Christina Clancy is! Im already looking forward to her future books.

June 2, 2020

This was an OK novel, but I felt it could have been stronger. The premise is that Ann manages to track down her estranged sister, Poppy, after their parents die in a car accident. Poppy returns to the Milwaukee, WI, home, where they grew up. Ann is going to sell their house on the Cape, where they spent every summer. One thing Ann conveniently leaves out of documents is that their parents adopted Michael when he was sixteen. Naturally, the siblings, who haven’t spoken in years, have to come together to determine what to do with the property.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES JUNE 2, 2020.

This was a beautiful debut novel. Clancy has a masterful writing style and I look forward to more of her work.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Christina Clancy hit it out of the park with her debut novel. I will definitely be watching for future releases.

This book is set in multiple locations with the main two being Wisconsin and the Outer Cape. It is told from three points of view: Ann, Poppy and Michael.

The writing of this book is rich. I wanted to hop in my car and drive to the Outer Cape to explore a place I have never been but felt like I knew from the book. The characters are relatable and well developed. I would have liked to be friends with this family by the end of the book.

This book was a great start to 2020 and will be one of my favorites of the year.

I received this book "The Second Home" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. I liked this book and found it easy to read. There were twists and turns that made it more interesting. Although it was a beach setting it was much more than a typical beach read. Watch out for the family secrets.

I liked this well enough. I never got a palpable sense of the Cape house which is why I was interested from the blurb..some fictitious pictures
would have really elevated my experience. I like the curious how others live thematic idea but it somehow fell flat for me, I had just finished reading Such a Fun Age and Recipe for a Perfect Wife and if I had not liked these two way better I would have appreciated The Second Home more, there is much to be said about second and even third homes in the US that go empty so I hope more writers to chose to fictionalize
the issue. for me a three star plus read

A family returns to Cape Cod that has been estranged, and secrets unravel. You've read it before. There are some good twists and interesting characters, but nothing entirely unique. The writing is, however, better than most. If you are looking for a good beach read, this would hit the spot.

While not my typical genre, I’m glad I read this book, as it was well written, and a nice break from my usual genre. I thought that it provided a lot of happy times, sad times, and other emotional turmoil and happiness when reading. Characters developed in a way that makes the story very engaging. Recommend to those who are looking for a story to provide some different emotions.
Will make sure to buzz it up on different platforms.

This is a charmingly clumsy novel about nice people and the Cape Cod house where they lived the best and worst times in their lives. When the Gordon's a Wisconsin high school teacher and his wife, adopt Michael, a recently orphaned teenager, he's welcomed into the family by Poppy and Ann, their adolescent daughters. The first year they introduce Michael to the Cape Cod house where they've spent summers since they were born, he's dramatically happy; at last, he has a real home. Everything US perfect - except hisburgeoning non-platonic feelings for Ann , which he represses until the summer he disappears. And if he's the father of the son Ann has several months later, as she does nothing to deny, it s almost understandable, if not particularly admirable, that Michael ran away. By the time the Gordon's are killed in a car crash, both Ann and Poppy are grown, and in very different places in their lives. When they come back to the Cape to put the summer house up for sale, Michael reappears - he has the same legal rights to the house as the sisters do.
The ending is never in doubt; live triumphs over misunderstandings, a missing will makes everything perfectly clear, and a third generation is already making plans for many summer's to come.

I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book so much. The writing was so alive. The characters felt so real. The story was addictive. I was happy, I was angry, I cried. I know its early in the year, but so far this is my favorite book I have read. What a wonderful novel.

I loved this book! It carries you through so many emotions and leaves you wanting more.

I received an advanced copy of #TheSecondHome from @StMartinsPress and @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. When I first received this book, I thought "I don't know about this" as I mostly read thrillers and thought this one might be boring. WELL, let me tell you this book is FAR from boring! I DEVOURED this story and its fantastic characters. So good!

Christina Clancy has created captivating characters some I loved, some I hated,. The Second Home centers around the Gordon Family and their summer home in Cape Cod. The story is told from several points of view over the course of many years. It centers on Ann, the oldest daughter and the summer when things didn't go quite as planned. The events of that summer have resulted miscommunications, misunderstandings, hard feelings and distance between family members and this house where it all began. It's just so good.

I highly recommend The Second Home. Once you pick it up you won't put it down. 5 Stars.

I love a good story that looks back on childhood events with a new perspective. This one fit that bill. All of the characters had some information, but none had it all correct. Of course it all comes to light, as things do, in a satisfying conclusion. I will recommend this read for book clubs at our library.

Beautiful , sad , and yes uplifting too... what a great read . This book was graciously provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a heartbreakingly beautiful debut that tells the story of Ann, sister Poppy, and adopted brother Michael. They summer on Cape Cod with their parents but one summer left Ann with a life-changing secret that would haunt her for a long time. Fast forward fifteen years and their parents are dead so the vacation home must be sold. But the three siblings have since been estranged so things are messy. Told from their alternating perspectives, the novel shows us a family in crisis, struggling to find a way not to just exist but to find happiness in a complicated world where there are constant changes and surprises; but ultimately it's a story of people allowing themselves to forgive themselves as well as others that have wronged them. Because of course isn't redemption the best gift we can give ourselves?