Rating: 
Summary: Melancholy
Review: This is a difficult book to appraise. My reaction is based on the affection I have for the characters, especially the girls Theresa is nurturing the summer this story takes place during. There is something lonely and unsettled about Theresa's life and about her charges Daisy and Flora. Parents and adults in this book are not very imaginative or involved but are not dilikeable either. The novel is really about loss and the beautiful frailty of remembered moments. McDermott is a stunning writer. Many other readers took offense to the 'creepy' relationship between the artist father of Flora (who seems very Picasso-like to me) and Theresa but I felt there was a certain reality to it. Beautiful young women, which is precisely what Theresa is becoming, are often drawn to old men with talent. It is a fact of the world. His sexuality must be potent for he is still a man who commands several women in his life. As inexplicable as it may seem to some of us, it does happen. Theresa almost behaves in a dreamlike maner around him, perhaps a form of rebellion against the cautious dreams her parents have formed on her behalf. A book I would recommend to anyone who likes a nostalgic, yet not sugary coming-of-age novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Unsatisfying
Review: This is a novel about a 15 year old girl who invites her "poor" 8 year old cousin to her house on the east end of Long Island, so she can spend the summer. Theresa, the heroine, is a lonely beautiful girl, daughter of hard working parents who are not as rich as their summer neighbors. To make money, and get noticed by the right people, Theresa babysits, walks dogs, etc. This is not a coming of age story, it is a reminiscience of a brief moment in time. THe good thing about this book is the writing. Much of it is lyrical and beautiful, and flows from page to page. But hte plot of the book leaves much to be desired. Things happen, but they are vague and underplayed. I assume this was done on purpose, but it doesn't work for me. It just makes everything that happens unimportant- days meld together. And the character development is weak, as the main character is weak. Theresa NEVER hangs out with anyone her own age. For a girl who is supposed to be so beautiful, no one between the ages of 11 and 35 ever approaches her. There are no girls from school calling, no trips to the ice cream shop, etc. It is just weird. All the adults we come across are strange as well- nasty socialite women, leering older men, the drunken next door neighbor, uncaring parents, including Theresa's own parents, who don't seem to care too much about what she's up to, or if she's happy. Because of the time frame of this book, we never see Thersa grow, or change, which leads me to the question- what was the point of this book?
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