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Elin Hilderbrand

Summer of '69 Kindle Edition

by Elin Hilderbrand (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

9,179 ratings

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

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Four siblings experience the drama, intrigue, and upheaval of the '60s summer when everything changed in Elin Hilderbrand's #1 New York Times bestselling historical novel.
Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century. It's 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother's historic home in downtown Nantucket. But like so much else in America, nothing is the same: Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests and determined to be independent, takes a summer job on Martha's Vineyard. Only-son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. And thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother and her worried mother, while each of them hides a troubling secret.
As the summer heats up, Ted Kennedy sinks a car in Chappaquiddick, man flies to the moon, and Jessie and her family experience their own dramatic upheavals along with the rest of the country. In her first historical novel, rich with the details of an era that shaped both a nation and an island thirty miles out to sea, Elin Hilderbrand once again earns her title as queen of the summer novel.

Print length

450 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Little, Brown and Company
Publication date

June 18, 2019
File size

2314 KB
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Popular Highlights in this book

What are popular highlights?

Being responsible for her own happiness, she has realized, is a lonely proposition.
Highlighted by 538 Kindle readers
Never let a man be responsible for your happiness. Kirby will be responsible for her own happiness from now on.
Highlighted by 486 Kindle readers
“Tree of Life,” David says. “In the kabbalah, the Tree of Life is a symbol of responsibility and maturity.”
Highlighted by 382 Kindle readers

From the Publisher

Summer of '69

EW, summer of 69, elin hilderbrand, hildebrand, 1969

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The grande dame of beach reads...Hilderbrand shifts among characters with her usual ease, weaving a saga that will make you forget the dynamics of your own dysfunctional people as you crowd into a too-small vacation rental."―Liz Egan, New York Times Book Review

"An engrossing tale of an iconic American summer"―People Magazine

"Overall this novel is an entertaining bagatelle . . . There won't be a single transistor radio this summer on Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea, nor on Madaket Beach in Nantucket. But there almost certainly will be multiple copies of Summer of '69. It's this year's beach-reading cure for . . . the summertime blues."―The Boston Globe

"Superb...Hilderbrand hits all the right notes about life in a tightly knit family, and this crowd-pleaser is sure to satisfy both her fans and newcomers alike."―Publishers Weekly, starred review

"HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hilderbrand's first foray into historical fiction will rouse curiosity in new readers as well as devotees of her annual summer smashes."―Susan Maguire, Booklist

"Hilderbrand's characters are utterly convincing and immediately draw us into their problems, from petty to grave...To use the parlance of the period, a highly relevant retrospective."
―Kirkus

"Misunderstandings, secrets, and wrong choices are revealed in this completely satisfying novel that is the beach read of the summer, sure to appeal to Hilderbrand's fans while earning her new readers. A must buy."―The Library Journal

"She presents another breezy yet gritty novel with Summer of '69... Simple, sassy, and continuously engaging, Summer of '69 fits neatly into the nostalgic reader's beach bag."―NPR

"Hilderbrand's books keep getting better and better."―Bookreporter

"With vivid descriptions of the songs, fashions and other details of the era woven throughout, it's a true nostalgia trip."―AARP --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

"The grande dame of beach reads...Hilderbrand shifts among characters with her usual ease, weaving a saga that will make you forget the dynamics of your own dysfunctional people as you crowd into a too-small vacation rental."―Liz Egan, New York Times Book Review

"An engrossing tale of an iconic American summer"―People Magazine

"Overall this novel is an entertaining bagatelle . . . There won't be a single transistor radio this summer on Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea, nor on Madaket Beach in Nantucket. But there almost certainly will be multiple copies of Summer of '69. It's this year's beach-reading cure for . . . the summertime blues."―The Boston Globe

"Superb...Hilderbrand hits all the right notes about life in a tightly knit family, and this crowd-pleaser is sure to satisfy both her fans and newcomers alike."―Publishers Weekly, starred review

"HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hilderbrand's first foray into historical fiction will rouse curiosity in new readers as well as devotees of her annual summer smashes."―Susan Maguire, Booklist

"Hilderbrand's characters are utterly convincing and immediately draw us into their problems, from petty to grave...To use the parlance of the period, a highly relevant retrospective."
―Kirkus

"Misunderstandings, secrets, and wrong choices are revealed in this completely satisfying novel that is the beach read of the summer, sure to appeal to Hilderbrand's fans while earning her new readers. A must buy."―The Library Journal

"She presents another breezy yet gritty novel with Summer of '69... Simple, sassy, and continuously engaging, Summer of '69 fits neatly into the nostalgic reader's beach bag."―NPR

"Hilderbrand's books keep getting better and better."―Bookreporter

"With vivid descriptions of the songs, fashions and other details of the era woven throughout, it's a true nostalgia trip."―AARP --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07J564ZHD
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company (June 18, 2019)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 18, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2314 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 450 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #33,277 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #38 in Sibling Fiction
- #158 in Women's New Adult & College Fiction
- #166 in Mothers & Children Fiction

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9,179 ratings

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Elin Hilderbrand

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Elin Hilderbrand first discovered the magic of Nantucket in July 1993. Her recipe for a happy island life includes running, writing at the beach, picnics at Eel Point with her three children, and singing "Home, Sweet Home" at the Club Car piano bar. Here's to Us is her seventeenth novel.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

9,179 global ratings

5 star		65%
4 star		22%
3 star		10%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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MrsLeif

Great escapism!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 9, 2022

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Summer of '69 was a good way to forget what is going on around the world.

The story centers in one family: The Levins/Nichols (Although, Kate was a Foley at some point. She was married to Wilder Foley).

Kate Levin is the mother. Kate is devastated that her only son, Tiger has been drafted to Vietnam. She's terrified he is going to die during this terrible war. She believes this is life paying her back for a secret she has been carrying for a long time. Kate knows she's drinking too much while her marriage and her relationship with her daughters are deteriorating.

The oldest daughter, Blair is married and pregnant. She is unhappy with her husband, Angus who's a physicist who doesn't want her to pursue her career. Instead, he wants her to stay at home barefoot and pregnant which is terribly lonely since he doesn't get home until very late every day. Furthermore, her husband also has some spells where he doesn't want to go out of the house at all and wants to seclude himself instead.

Kirby is the middle sister. She is all about fighting for civil rights, love not war, getting high and living free. Although, recently after she got in trouble with a man, she wants to heal and spend the summer at Martha's Vineyard. She's offered a job working the graveyard shift which she takes. She wants to prove she can be self-sufficient. In regards to her heart, She's not ready to date again until she meets Darren.

Lastly, there is Jessie, the half-sister. She just turned thirteen and the last thing she wants to do is to stay with her mother Kate and her grandmother, Exalta in Nantucket for the summer. It's implicit that she would need to start taking tennis lessons even though it is not a sport she wants to learn. It doesn't help that her first class in nothing but a nightmare.

***

Going back to Nantucket through Elin Hilderbrand's vision is always fun. But this time, it was not only Nantucket that was relevant but instead she decided to transport us to 1969. A year which was important for America and the world for so many reasons. Some awe-inspiring moments but also some terrible tragedies occurred during this time.

Summer of '69 had relatable characters. I liked them all except maybe I never really warm up to the Exalta.

I can't wait for Mrs. Hilderbrand's next Nantucket beach read.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

3 people found this helpful

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WB

Beach read and Historical Fiction Combo

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 18, 2022

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This is my second book by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
First, I loved the musical references and inserts. I downloaded several songs as a result of this.
A unique family dynamic – blended due to death and remarriage. Half sibling of a different religious origin. A high strung, self-important grandmother. And the Vietnam War. Those are just a few of things going on in one family during the Summer of ’69. But not everyone is going on the annual summer visit to Nantucket. Oldest sibling – pregnant with twins with a husband that may just be too smart for his own good- is having to stay put due to pregnancy. Kirby – the second born has a free spirit and instead of going to Nantucket with the rest of the family ventures off to Martha’s Vineyard. And Tiger - the only boy of the bunch has been drafted and sent to Vietnam. This leaves Kate and her mother – along with 13 year old Jesse -in Nantucket, but this summer proves nothing will ever the be same. As each walks their own path, there are lessons learned. Kate is not handling her son’s deployment well and has started excessively drinking – just like her mother who she swore she wouldn’t be. Jesse has her first crush among other firsts in her young life. We long to hear how Tiger is doing and await his letters with eagerness.
This book has all the feels. All of them. Happy. Sad. Patriotic. Broken. Hopeful. Fearful. I was all over the place when I read this book and couldn’t wait to see what happened. I kept tissues with me the whole time. I give this 4.5 stars and if you want a beach read and historical fiction. This book is for you.

3 people found this helpful

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Emily Czajowski

Accurate description...good copy.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

Accurate description...good copy.

Helpful

This Is a Beach Book with Brains That Perfectly Captures the Tumultuous Summer of '69

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 25, 2021

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Elin Hilderbrand is known as the "Queen of Beach Reads," so I had certain expectations—as in, light, frothy, ChickLitty—for this first book I have read by her. Well, that was wrong!

While this is a wonderful novel for summer reading, it is really a magnificent, intelligent blend of historical fiction and a beach book. It's a beach book with brains!

This is the story of the (very) privileged Nichols-Foley-Levin family of Brookline, Massachusetts, who have spent their summers for generations on the tony Massachusetts island of Nantucket. The novel focuses on four of the women in what is a larger cast of characters: 48-year-old mother Kate Levin, 24-year-old daughter Blair Foley Whalen, 21-year-old daughter Kirby Foley, and 13-year-old daughter Jessica Levin. The story is told in alternating chapters from their four voices.

Kate is overtly distraught and drinking way too much due to excessive worry for her son Tiger, who was drafted and has just been deployed to Vietnam. Blair, who is pregnant and due any day with twins, is in a romantically complicated and unhappy marriage to Angus, an MIT professor who is working on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Kirby, a Simmons University junior, gets a summer job at an inn on Martha's Vineyard in Edgartown, while recovering from a romance with a married man and embarking on a new romance with a Black Harvard student. And Jessie, who turns 13 the day they arrive in Nantucket, is experiencing all those adolescent demons and joys as she, too, worries about her big brother fighting in Vietnam. Each of these four women mirror a major life event most women experience—from adolescence to college to marriage and motherhood to the nearly empty nest—but from a vantage of changing times for women's roles and expectations.

This is a book that grabbed me from the first paragraph. The plot simply buzzes and has enough surprises and small twists to keep the pages quickly turning. And, just as the title says, this is all taking place during that momentous summer of 1969—the first moon walk, the Vietnam War, race relations, Betty Friedan, and Teddy Kennedy and Chappaquiddick. Very cleverly, each chapter is titled with a song from the era, which gives just a whisper of a hint to the evolving plotline.

Read it! Take it to the beach or your own backyard. This is a summer novel that perfectly captures that tumultuous summer of '69.

6 people found this helpful

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JaquiP

As a snapshot of a time - Summer '69 it's a fascinating read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 15, 2020

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Who isn't fascinated by the swinging 60s - Vietnam, the Kennedy's, Nixon, the music, Woodstock - all that. Through the mirror of one exceedingly privileged family, so many aspects and issues of that time: underlying antisemitism, race, women's rights are covered in this book. I haven't read this writer before and the topics are really well covered and the characters became increasingly well rounded. Some of them I found appealing and some I couldn't warm to at all. It's a very "American" novel. For example what are 'clam diggers? Patio Dresses? Tretorns? I guess a Magnavox is some kind of record player. But all these Americanisms just added to the fun, and, I guess The authenticity. Imagine, in the 6Os no mobile phones or ipads, every one used public phone boxes. And party lines! I remember them. We had party lines in the UK too. Great to reminisce and look back

The summer of '69 I was twenty one and living in the UK was only vaguely aware of the social and political aspects of the time although so much was in our news. We were glued to our black and white TVs back then,watching the space launch and astronauts walking on the moon The book made me feel very nostalgic, these were indeed amazing times of change and history. The 60s were so vibrant and exciting and it felt the young truly came into their own with the fashion, the music, the hope. This felt indeed like the dawning of the age of Aquarius. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the feeling it imparted of how it was to live through those times. Not for us the tragedy of the 30s and 40s, the dismal 50s. It was great to be young and alive in the 60s. I loved the descriptions of food and the beaches and islands like Nantucket and Martha's vineyard. All in all, a very enjoyable read. Not all the ends are tied up neatly, but that's fine, they aren't in life, but I would read this writer again for the insight into a different time and world. Good book about relationships and a segment of social history.

3 people found this helpful

Helena Halme Author

Couldn't put this book down...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 6, 2020

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Elin Hilderbrand is rapidly becoming one of my very favourite authors! I discovered her during a trip to the US when browsing in a bookstore. Her name had cropped up as one of the authors my readers also enjoy, so I was keen to find out what kind of books she writes. And I was immediately hooked.

'Summer of '69' is slightly different from this author's usual books, as it's set in a bygone era, but her research into the 1960s is impeccable, as is the atmosphere she invokes. There's casual sexism, racism and good descriptions of the new generational gap in the social norms that symbolized the end of the decade.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this novel. If you haven't yet discovered Elin Hilderbrand, I envy you! You have a bunch of books to enjoy.

2 people found this helpful

D. C. A. Price

Yet another unputdownable book ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 18, 2019

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It’s a bit of a mystery to me why Elin Hildebrand’s books aren’t more popular in the UK. This one is yet another winner in my opinion and the setting of 1969 is inspired because so much was happening in the US then. The fears of a mother for her son fighting in the Vietnam war are movingly described, and the occasion of the first moon landing and walk seem strange when also reading of the horrors in Vietnam. The author also manages to include the death of Mary Jo Kopechne and Senator Bobby Kennedy’s involvement in that. An excellent book, full of family secrets, coming of age, social changes ... I couldn’t put it down and was sad when it ended.

Lidia Budzinska

Wonderful book ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 21, 2020

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I had a great opportunity to visit Martha’s Vineyard On many occasions years ago when I was an au pair in Boston this is why I reached out for this book to read about the place where I’ve been and it was a great pleasure to read I got involved with all the characters I love the descriptions and how each character struggled with different aspects of their lives and how they Related to each other I didn’t want to believe that Angus had an affair I had a feeling straight away that he was going for therapy and I was right so it wasn’t a surprise for me to have read about that outcome. funny book to read as well made me laugh a few times interesting to read about America in 1969

Lauretta Long

Book review

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 30, 2020

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I read this book on my Kindle and thought the fictional story aspect interlinked with actual true events worked really well. Nantucket is one island I would love to visit, certainly as portrayed by Elin Hildebrand. The love for it always shines through.

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