Montauk

Harrison’s satisfactory debut follows a woman’s life as it’s turned upside down during a summer spent on Long Island. In 1938, Beatrice Bordeaux and her banker husband, Harry, arrive in Montauk, Long Island, where Beatrice will spend the summer while Harry works in New York City during the week, returning for weekends. All of the wealthy socialites have routines and expectations of their peers, planning parties and indulging themselves with fancy foods and expensive clothes. But Beatrice, a country girl, takes solitary bike rides and becomes enamored of the small, beautiful fishing village. Its kindhearted residents serve the elites staying at the Montauk Manor hotel, and the handsome, down-to-earth Thomas Brown, who tends the lighthouse, is especially intriguing to Beatrice. She’s determined to stay faithful to her husband, despite a coolness that has arisen in their marriage, until she learns he has been busy with more than his work back in the city. More details of the era would’ve added much-needed texture to the story; instead, the novel feels like it could be set at any time (with the language often sounding contemporary). Still, readers looking for a story with a strong lead will find one here. (June)