Summer Longing

Brenner (The Forever Summer) takes readers to a small Cape Cod beach community where an abandoned baby becomes the talk of the town. When newly retired Ruth Cooperman moves to Provincetown, Mass., she is hoping to slow down. Then she finds an abandoned baby on the front porch of her rented beach house. Couple Elise and Fern move back in to the cottage they rented to Ruth to care for the infant rather than call the authorities, and Ruth’s quiet retirement becomes even more crowded after her estranged daughter, Olivia, agrees to visit, while Ruth continues her search for a house to buy. As Ruth and her daughter address Olivia’s sense of abandonment by her mother, Elise and Fern bond with the baby and dream of making her their own. However, the mystery of the baby’s mother lurks in the background, and Ruth’s tenuous relationship with her daughter, as well as the connections created as the town comes together to support Elise, Fern, and the baby, will soon be tested. While Brenner gets off to a slow, muddled start, she eventually finds her footing and achieves a satisfying ending. This touching, nuanced summer yarn delivers the goods. (May)