Bittersweet: A Novel
Out of place at her elite East Coast college, Mabel Dagmar falls into an unlikely friendship with her blue-blooded roommate, Genevra Ev Winslow, and is invited to spend the summer at Ev’s family estate in Vermont. Jumping at the chance to escape her working-class family in Oregon, Mabel enters the world of madras shorts and cocktails on the veranda. The enchantment of a lakeside retreat, steeped in tradition, sweeps Mabel (who now goes by May) off her feet, as does Ev’s older brother, Galway. But May has secrets, as do the Winslows, and as May unravels the family’s litany of misdeeds, she puts herself in serious danger. Beverly-Whittemore’s novel is suspenseful and intriguing, filled with characters who both fit the blue-blood mold and break the stereotypes we all associate with the upper class. Her short chapters, with their cliff-hanger endings, will keep readers turning pages late into the night. --Heather Paulson