Montauk
A Novel
by Nicola Harrison
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date Jun 04 2019 | Archive Date Sep 03 2020
Description
An epic and cinematic novel by debut author Nicola Harrison, Montauk captures the glamour and extravagance of a summer by the sea with the story of a woman torn between the life she chose and the life she desires.
Montauk, Long Island, 1938.
For three months, this humble fishing village will serve as the playground for New York City’s wealthy elite. Beatrice Bordeaux was looking forward to a summer of reigniting the passion between her and her husband, Harry. Instead, tasked with furthering his investment interest in Montauk as a resort destination, she learns she’ll be spending twelve weeks sequestered with the high society wives at The Montauk Manor—a two-hundred room seaside hotel—while Harry pursues other interests in the city.
College educated, but raised a modest country girl in Pennsylvania, Bea has never felt fully comfortable among these privileged women, whose days are devoted not to their children but to leisure activities and charities that seemingly benefit no one but themselves. She longs to be a mother herself, as well as a loving wife, but after five years of marriage she remains childless while Harry is increasingly remote and distracted. Despite lavish parties at the Manor and the Yacht Club, Bea is lost and lonely and befriends the manor’s laundress whose work ethic and family life stir memories of who she once was.
As she drifts further from the society women and their preoccupations and closer toward Montauk’s natural beauty and community spirit, Bea finds herself drawn to a man nothing like her husband –stoic, plain spoken and enigmatic. Inspiring a strength and courage she had almost forgotten, his presence forces her to face a haunting tragedy of her past and question her future.
Desperate to embrace moments of happiness, no matter how fleeting, she soon discovers that such moments may be all she has, when fates conspire to tear her world apart…
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781250200112 |
| PRICE | $27.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 400 |
Featured Reviews
Natalie L, Reviewer
I am a huge fan of Beatriz Williams and Amor Towles, and Nicola Harrison certainly is a worthy successor. Montauk takes the reader to the newest playground for the ultra rich society denizens of New York City in 1938. Through the eyes of the abused wife, Beatrice Bordeaux, the reader enters the chic resort built by Carl Fisher which was going to catapult Montauk to the level of an international luxury resort.
The summer of 1938 is a tumultuous one, not just for Beatrice but for the world. She discovers unpleasant truths about her marriage and finds life-changing love during these weeks. She also discovers her inner resources and strength.
Harrison manages to create an atmosphere redolent of the snobby WASP society of the era. I pictured the cast of Claire Booth Luce’s THE WOMEN transported to Montauk. Her descriptions of the people, clothing, and dynamic totally engrossed me from the moment I opened the novel.
Having read so many books about this time period, the year immediately brought the massive hurricane of 1938 to mind, especially A HUNDRED SUMMERS by Beatriz Williams. These books are very different, but that historic storm loomed large in both.
The author skillfully iinjects subjects like anti-Semitism, fertility issues and nascent femininism into the book. This will provide rich fodder for book club discussions and seminars.
I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to more writing by this author. I am grateful to NETGALLEY for this opportunity, and look forward to discussions about the magic that this author created.
Natasha R, Bookseller
This is an engrossing story which had me hooked from the very first page. It brings to life what it was like to live in the high society world of the 1930's and the descriptions of the beauty of Montauk make it seem so real. When Beatrice Bordeaux ,a secretary to an editor at Fortune Magazine, met and married Harry she stepped into a new and exciting world of luxury. But when Harry arranges for her to spend the summer at Montauk Manor she realizes that the world beyond the gates of the rich and famous may be more important to her. I loved reading about Beatrice's life and cheered for her.
Anne F, Educator
This was such a lovely debut novel! Set in 1938 in Montauk, it revolves around Beatrice and her overbearing husband, Harry. As they've come to "summer" there at a lovely resort, Beatrice looks forward to spending lazy days and lavish party-filled nights with her husband. But he's only there for weekends as he must work in the city to support them. What Beatrice discovers is that her wealthy "friends" are not all they appear to be; instead they are petty, jealous, mean-spirited, and judgmental of the locals who work for them. Beatrice discovers a whole new world when she meets the somewhat-eccentric lighthouse keeper in the fishing village and this opens her eyes to a world she never knew existed. I loved everything about this book: the time period where women were supposed to be "obedient," the catty chatter of women believing themselves to be superior, the lovely setting of the village and its people, and especially the character of Beatrice who proves that women are a force to be reckoned with! The novel is heartbreaking and heartwarming, both lyrical and realistic. It is a book to be savored.
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