The Second Home

A Novel

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Pub Date Jun 02 2020 | Archive Date Mar 08 2023

Description

After a disastrous summer spent at her family summer home on Cape Cod, seventeen-year-old Ann Gordon was left with a secret that changed her life forever, and created a rift between her sister, Poppy, and their adopted brother, Michael.

Now, fifteen years later, her parents have died, leaving Ann and Poppy to decide the fate of the Wellfleet home that's been in the Gordon family for generations. For Ann, the once-beloved house is tainted with bad memories. Poppy loves the old saltbox, but after years spent chasing waves around the world, she isn't sure she knows how to stay in one place.

Just when the sisters decide to sell, Michael re-enters their lives with a legitimate claim to 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 must decide if they can continue to be a family—and the house just might be the glue that holds them together.

Told through the shifting perspectives of Ann, Poppy, and Michael, this assured and affecting debut captures the ache of nostalgia for summers past and the powerful draw of the places we return to again and again. It is about second homes, second families, and second chances. Tender and compassionate, incisive and heartbreaking, The Second Home is the story of a family you'll quickly fall in love with, and won't soon forget.

After a disastrous summer spent at her family summer home on Cape Cod, seventeen-year-old Ann Gordon was left with a secret that changed her life forever, and created a rift between her sister...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781250239341
PRICE $26.99 (USD)
PAGES 352

Average rating from 722 members


Featured Reviews

Get on this emotional roller coaster because you'll enjoy the ride and want to take others with you. Three siblings with ties to a family vacation home struggle with life, death, and the things that tear you apart. But then you have to put those torn pieces together. Each sibling represents a distinct personality with characters so realistically crafted that they seem like people you know. There will be times when you won't be able to stop reading and times you'll need to power down and reflect before moving on to an ending that will bring out the smiles.

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I truly enjoyed this novel!

People often say that how you remember your childhood home and the memories are often not quite the same, nor can you go back.
I am sure this is not what Ann, Poppy or Michael think when they reconvene years later to settle the beach house estate.
Many summers were spent at this wonderful old cottage.
Things change and times moved forward, not always for the best of reasons. People drift apart.
Now.... can these three siblings remember all the good things they have? Can they forgive?

It is a well written story with love, family, friendship, and strength in the plot.
I will be looking for more from Christina Clancy!

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The writing in this book is elegantly descriptive. At times I felt such anger toward one of the characters that it surprised me. In my world it is never okay to take advantage of a child. It was necessary to the plot and I realized just how good a writer Christina Clancy is.

The story revolves around Ed and Connie Gordon good people who have enough love to share with their two daughters and a teenage boy who was in desperate need of a good home. The Second Home is a house in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. The house has been in the family for generations and the Gordons spend every summer there. Their experiences in Wellfleet have a profound effect on all the family members. This is a book that held my interest from beginning end. I hope future readers recognize its value. It will be available in June 2020.

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy from St Martin's Press through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are completely my own.
#TheSecondHome #NetGalley

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Such a wonderful read. I was immediately sucked into this story. So many lessons about honesty, not judging others without knowing the whole story and lots of great karma! I enjoyed this book from the first page to the last one!

A great read from a great author – highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced review copy.

#netgalley #thesecondhome

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Debut Author
everybody buzzing about book...will Next Summer's Big Read!!
Couldn't wait to read it!

Travel to Cape Cod- Wellfleet in February, where we have a meeting with a realtor...
mixed feelings are mixed with memories...
"It felt wrong to imagine strangers living here, like letting them wear my skin"

Memories are triggered
Go back in time to 15 years before
Everything and everyone were different

One summer changed many lives and had ripple effect

I enjoyed book
once I started reading, I couldn't stop until the end

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An amazing debut novel! The characters are very real and relatable. Ann and Poppy are sisters in their teens. Ann is the responsible one, Ann with a Plan. Poppy is a free spirit, moving from place to place with no home base, no belongings or attachments. While in their teens, their parents adopt Michael who is loved by everyone. While at their summer home in Cape Cod, something tragic happens to Ann which has an impact on all their lives and changes each one of them forever. Many years go by without contact between them, and it is inevitable that a tragic event might draw them together again. I just loved the story!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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The plot of this book sounded interesting and so I began reading with high expectations. The story surpassed those expectations, and I was intrigued by every character. It’s such a “normal” family, in that they have complicated relationships, and fall away and come back together in different ways. When I realized I was near the end of the book I actually felt disappointment that the story was ending. Well done, Christina Clancy.

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Ann and her sister Poppy had a very bad experience at their home in Cape Cod one summer that caused really bad feelings between them and their adopted brother Michael.
Years later after their parents died, they decided to sell both of their parents homes, including the one at the Cape.
But things aren’t that simple when their adopted brother lays claim to the house that he owns it and they can’t sell it. He wants to make amends among them but will he get the chance to do so?

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Absolutely fantastic. A mix between a beach read, but with being slightly dark and edgy instead of light and fluffy, with mystery and romance. Loved the character development through the years, every character followed a clear and consistent arc.

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What a fantastic book! The body of the book starts out as kind of a mellow summer at the Cape story, but it quickly moves to a gripping story line which makes you sad and extremely angry on behalf of the characters. The characters all were flawed to various degrees, although even some of their most unattractive behaviors were understandable given how they were manipulated when they were young and vulnerable. I found that I did care about all of them and that each of the three main characters were fully developed. The transitions between their stories and the different time periods were smooth, with small reveals along the way filled in later to make a multi-layered and satisfying narrative.

The only thing I might have liked changed would be to have eliminated the prologue. As it turned out, I wasn't fully engaged at that point and there was a gap in time between when I started and when I got to the body of the book, so I didn't really remember what it had said. When I went back and reread it at the end, though, I felt that it revealed too much too early, so I was glad that I had forgotten it.

In any case, I really loved this book and highly recommend it. Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an advance e-copy of the book.

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O liked the book and the way it should human mistakes and miscommunication are keys to most problems in families. It showed family dynamics, sisters complex relationships, and gave a good outlook on what an adoptee must feel like to come into an already formed family. I really liked this book. Thank you for letting me read it.

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I really like stories like this, nice when I can relate to a lot going on - the settings, etc... I like how it went from person to person, telling this tale of three siblings and the miscommunication/lies that can change lives. I do like how it ended. Nice to have it all figured out and happily for everyone.

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I love books involving family secrets and this book did not disappoint. Plus the description of that area on Cape Cod were fascinating. Makes me want to visit that area all over again. Would highly recommend.

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Christina Clancy has woven a truly wonderful story of a family torn apart by secrets and lies kept during a summer at their families’ ancestral home on Cape Cod. Including wonderful depictions of youth and innocence, the story shows the waste of years when truth is avoided at all costs. But what a wonderful, caring and loving life the parents give the children....now scattered all over the world... running from themselves and each other and not wanting to face their past and find out the truth. After their parents tragic death, follow how they all feel about The Second Home. A truly heart warming story with wonderful character development. I would recommend it highly.

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Christina Clancy has a winner with her debut novel! Told in two separate timelines - the first, a summer on Cape Cod that changes a family permanently. The second, 15 years later after the unexpected death of the parents, which is told in the prologue (NOT a spoiler). I thought the writing was fantastic - I couldn't believe it was Clancy's debut! This stunning story will be released on June 2!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I enjoyed this book and devoured it in a couple of days. The story is about a family in Milwaukee with a summer home on Cape Cod that has been in the family and passed down over generations. The story moved along nicely with the chapters alternating between the three children and how their lives evolved from their experiences on the Cape. Very strong character development. I will recommend for my book club.

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Absolutely fantastic read. Ann, Poppy, and Michael are typical siblings of this day and age with typical inheritance problems when parents are gone. However, the surprises in this book as details are revealed are amazing and make the novel difficult to put down. I was wanting to make things right for them but had to struggle with them as they solved their created delimmas. Read The Second Home by Christina Clancy and take heed.

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Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins press and the Author, Christina Clancy for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I chose this book because it sounded intriguing and the cover was really nice and I literally could not put it down, I finished it in one day.
I loved the family dynamics, the interaction of the family members and the way the book was written from each siblings point of view.
My first read from this author and it won't be my last!

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Wow! I am so glad I read this book and super appreciative of Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I so enjoyed this family’s journey that revolves around their summer home in Cape Cod. This story captured my attention from the first page. I could absolutely connect with each of the siblings and each of their dramas. Each character had their own complicated spin that added to the suspense.

I would definitely read another book by this author especially since this is her first offering.

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The Gordon family lives in Wisconsin, but have a second home on Cape Cod that has been in the family for generations. After a disastrous event at the end of their annual summer vacation, seventeen year old Ann has a secret that will affect the family for many years to come, and leaves a rift between the three siblings.
Fifteen years later, when their parents have been tragically killed in a car accident, the decision of what to do with the home on Cape Cod will force them to reunite.
This debut novel checked off so many boxes for me — family drama, love and forgiveness, hope, dysfunction, and a smidge of romance. These characters were believable and endearing. I love books with siblings and the push and pull of their relationships over time. This story was well told and I enjoyed seeing how it played out. Be sure to add this to your summer reading list.


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

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I so loved this book! I was given an advance reader’s copy through NetGalley. The story was so emotional told by all three kids in the family, Ann, Poppy and the adopted son Michael. It takes place mostly in Cape Cod, which I loved as I never really had a beach experience or surfed and this took you there, right there you almost felt what it was like to catch a wave.
This was Christina Clancy’s debut novel, wow I never would have guessed, it brought out many emotions, heart tugging and heart stopping and I would recommend you don’t miss this memorable page turner.

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Really angsty and emotional family drama set in Cape Cod over a span of years. There was a definite sense of the geographic location-enough that I almost felt like I was there. The Cape is one of my favorite places in the world! The story is told from three different POVs, Ann, her sister Poppy and their adopted brother Michael. All three of them suffer from the misunderstandings that happened when they were in their mid-teens-right when emotions are at their angsty best! There were times when all three of them annoyed me and I couldn't help but grieve for their parents who died before any of the misunderstandings were really cleared up. At the beginning, the parents have suddenly died and Ann is dealing with selling their Cape Cod house. The story then moves to the past when the family was ripped apart. There were a couple of times when there was a time jump that seemed a little jarring but that is only a mild critique. I was able to follow the story and was definitely invested in the outcome of the plot.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in return for my honest review.

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It is difficult to believe that The Second Home is Christina Clancy"s first novel! It is an excellent family saga filled with lies, secrets, and deceptions......all of which make it a great dramatic story. It is told from three different points of view. I loved the story and I loved the characters. This is a five star book and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves family dramas! I am looking forward to Ms. Clancy's next novel! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

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What a perfect escape read. I’ve never been to Cape Cod by I have a place I love to visit on Lake Erie. This invoked that love of place and got it fits into your history. One of my favorite moments in the book is when Poppy is driving toward the house and starts to feel as she sees signs and landmarks fly by. I know exactly how that feels. Ann, Poppy and their adopted brother Michael spent summers in the family vacation home. One summer, everything fell apart dividing the siblings and Michael disappears. After their parents death the summer house draws them back together. This is a fantastic family drama. Christina Clancy writes with such a sense of setting that I felt I was there. I highly recommend this book! Perfect for summer.

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