READERS GUIDE
A Conversation with Nancy ThayerRandom House Reader’s Circle: Where did you get the idea for this story?
Nancy Thayer: I’m fascinated by families. I grew up in a middle-class family in Kansas, and it’s taken me a long time to get over believing that “richer is better.” Living on Nantucket has given me the opportunity to see so many idyllic summer houses and to know some exceptionally fortunate, golden families. It’s been a revelation to me to discover that these families have secrets, envies, sins, and sorrows, just like everyone else. Why was I surprised? Still, I wanted to capture the truth of the imperfect lives lived in these perfect summer houses—as in all homes.
In a way, I’ve waited years for just the right moment to write this book. As a child, I pored over my father’s World War II album and saw photos of him in Germany, both during the war and after it was over, when he was stationed in Bremerhaven. On his desk at home, he had a wooden nameplate: first lieutenant w. s. wright. He told me a German friend had carved it for him. I said, “A German friend?” He explained that countries go to war; individuals can be friends. I’ve always remembered that. I felt the time was right to write about a family that loves and accepts its flawed and imperfect relatives—because we are all flawed and imperfect. I was thrilled to use some of his letters to my mother as Herb’s letters to Anne in Summer House. I wish he were still alive to know this.
RHRC: Summer House is told from the points of view of three generations of Wheelwright women—Nona’s, Helen’s, and Charlotte’s. Where did you get the inspiration for these very different women? Who was the easiest to write about?
NT: Nona is much like my mother, Jane. Certainly I’ve always treasured photos of her as a young woman during the 1940s. She got to wear glamorous little hats with veils! Helen is a bit like me, wanting peace in the family, but also the quiet rebel of the extended family. And Charlotte is much like my own idealistic daughter, trying to save the world, as Worth says, “one lettuce leaf at a time.”
Nona is my favorite. I’ve studied so many older women now and seen how age has brought them a generosity, a benevolence, and an ability to cherish the little moments of daily life. I loved Nona when she was Anne, too, because she was brave and so full of love. In the aftermath of war, she chose to nurture a new and precious life. She forgave her husband: She understood why he had done what he had. She was compassionate. With her own heart and her own arms, she brought the outsider in.
RHRC: Do you map your characters out from the beginning or do you allow their stories to unfold as you are writing? Do they occasionally surprise you?
NT: I don’t map them out from the beginning. Writing is an amazing alchemy. I talk with one friend about her son’s problem, admire another friend’s dress, and the next morning there’s a character walking around in my head, her very own person. I do believe there is something more than what our five senses tell us. I believe writers, like many of us, are hooked into that, into something universal. My characters become real to me. Sometimes I like to think of all my characters together, sharing a wonderful meal and talking about what I got right and wrong about them.
And yes, they do surprise me. I never know when I begin a novel how it’s going to end. When I started the book, I thought Helen might leave Worth, and I had no idea that Nona was going to chop down that hedge. Somehow, I feel that as I write, I grow along with my characters in understanding about the meaning of life. I feel lucky if that happens.
RHRC: Helen mentions the phrase “think globally, act locally.” Is this something you believe in as well?
NT: Absolutely. Having had two children and now two grandchildren, I feel more involved with the fate of the planet than ever. I want to keep it safe. Living on a small island where every bit of metal and plastic has to be shipped off makes me vividly aware of pollution. Nantucketers are maniac recyclers. I admire our younger generations; I believe in their endeavors to save the earth, one lettuce leaf at a time. I also believe in karma, and that we are all interrelated—quantum physics tells us that. A kindness done locally can reverberate a long way, like the butterfly’s wing stirring wind over the ocean.
RHRC: Worth tells his daughter that only two things matter in life: work and family. Do you agree? Would you add anything else to this?
NT: I would absolutely add something: friends! I couldn’t survive without my friends. Worth is expressing a very male point of view. Many things matter in life, and different people are given different opportunities. Not everyone loves her work. Not everyone has a family. I would say what matters in life is passion, a passion for gardening or sailing or cats or reading or baking, something that engages and challenges us, makes us feel alive and connected to this amazing universe, that makes us want to get up in the morning and get to it.
RHRC: Summer House is filled to the brim with interesting, well-drawn characters. Do you have a favorite among them?
NT: I love Nona/Anne the best. She is my favorite. But the one who was the most fun to write about was Grace! She just showed up in the book. I had no idea she would be there. She was so complete, so utterly herself. She’s so mean, so critical, so rigid. But she tries so hard, and I think there’s a tiny bit of me in her—I was the oldest child, always told to help out, always expected to be the good girl, to do everything right. I think Grace is a very complicated woman.
RHRC: If readers could take away just one message from this book, what would you want it to be?
NT: I suppose it would be the message I learned from my father—that we’re all part of the same extended family, and we should welcome our friends, wherever they’re from.
RHRC: This is such a minor detail, but I’ve always wondered: Why the name change from Anne to Nona?
NT: Anne’s name was changed to Nona when she became a grandmother. This happens often, I find, and I love it. I called my grandmother Nanny. Now my own grandchildren call me Nanny, and my daughter and her husband call me Nanny, too, in front of their children. It’s such a beautiful circle of love. I think this name change for women is a kind of rite of passage, and such a blessing.
RHRC: Every summer, the Wheelwrights make their way to Nantucket. As a year-round local, how do you feel about the influx of tourists during peak season?
NT: Certainly the change from 12,000 people in the winter to over 60,000 in the summer complicates life and creates traffic jams, but it also revitalizes our community and keeps the island economy going. And it’s wonderful that people are happy here—they’ve come here to be happy. They sail, party, stroll, eat ice cream, build sand castles with their children, fall in love—I like to sit on a bench on Main Street and watch them and smile, especially when I see a couple, young or old, holding hands.
RHRC: The scenes with Charlotte and her garden are simply lovely! Do you have any experience with gardening?
NT: My son and daughter are both gardeners. My son grows most of his vegetables and they’re delicious. One of my close friends has an enormous vegetable garden, which was the inspiration for Charlotte’s. She wrote a book about it: Dear Mr. Jefferson: Letters from a Nantucket Gardener, by Laura Simon.
I like to grow flowers and make little areas. We have a fairly large yard for in-town Nantucket, with three old maples we cherish because big trees are rare on the island. They shade the yard and limit what I can grow. My favorite area is the little slate path I laid beneath tall, curving rose of Sharon, and privet, which over the years I’ve trimmed and shaped to create a shadowy secret tunnel. At the end I’ve placed a large stone griffin. It’s a kind of small, magic avenue for my grandchildren and me to walk down. When my grandson first saw it, his eyes went wide.
RHRC: Do you think there is such a thing as too much family time and togetherness?
NT: I think it depends on the person. My family and I are all readers who can’t go long without finding a private spot and an hour or so for reading. I think this has rather puzzled my son-in-law, who loves to play board games at Christmas and wonders where we’ve all gone to. The other day, his daughter, my granddaughter, Adeline, left the room where we were all together talking, went into her own room, and shut the door. When we peeked in, she was happily arranging her books. I think it’s genetic!
RHRC: What’s coming up next from you?
NT: My new Nantucket novel, Beachcombers, is about three sisters who reunite on the island when their well-laid plans and their lives drastically change. Ambitious Emma works as a stockbroker in Boston, until the economy falters; she loses her job and is dumped by her fiance. She returns home so depressed that her younger sister, Lily, begs their oldest sister, Abbie, to come home. Abbie is used to taking care of her sisters ever since the death of their mother when Abbie was fifteen and Lily was seven. Now thirty, Abbie’s been in England for two years, and she thought she was free of family responsibility. But when their handsome, father, Jim, rents their playhouse to a gorgeous divorcée, even Abbie goes on guard. And Marina, the gorgeous divorcée, finds herself fascinated by Jim—but the three daughters make the relationship difficult. The sisters take jobs for the summer only to discover the jobs offer surprises that could be wonderful—if they’re brave enough to take the risks. Beachcombers is about the magic ordinary people find during a Nantucket summer, and about four women who must allow themselves to change in order to let the magic touch their lives.
Questions and Topics for Discussion
1. Both Charlotte and Nona suspect Helen of having an affair. Why are they both so quick to assume that it would be Helen rather than Worth having the affair?
2. What’s the significance of Nona taking down the hedges?
3. Helen feels that she doesn’t quite fit into the Wheelwright mold. Does Helen set herself apart from the Wheelwrights or is it the family that keeps her at a distance?
4. Is it wrong to tell the family about Herb’s indiscretions since he is unable to defend himself? Does the family have the right to know the truth? How would Grace react to the news that Worth isn’t Nona’s son?
5. Why do Helen and Worth consider their children to be the rebels of the family, while Nona considers them to be full of spunk? Why are parents often unable to let go and let live?
6. Why do parents often feel the need to have their children follow in their footsteps?
7. Why is Grace so hard on everyone and so full of spite? Do her children deserve much more than Worth’s children because they did things the Wheelwright way?
8. Did Teddy drink because his father was so judgmental or was his father so judgmental because Teddy drank?
9. For four years, Charlotte has been secretly atoning for having an affair with her cousin’s husband. Did Mee’s own betrayal finally make up for Charlotte’s bad behavior? Was Charlotte being too hard on herself?
10. After keeping the secret for sixty years, was Nona right to finally tell Worth the truth about his parentage? Would Nona have taken her secret to the grave if it wasn’t for all the family drama that was occurring?
11. Why is it so difficult for people to separate themselves from their families?
12. Was it fair for Helen to bring up Sweet Cakes when she did, as a way to blackmail Worth and get her way?
13. Anne forgives Herb of his adultery because of his experiences with the war. Was that fair to her?
