Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand and Portuguese Sweet Bread
Recipe: click here
Go ahead…start singing Bryan Adams song Summer of ’69. You know you already are… although this book takes place in Nantucket, I chose to make this bread because it is mentioned throughout the entire book. Apparently, this bread is unique to Nantucket (and it is REALLY GOOD!!!!!!). It is rather interesting to read about the different breads served here. If you are asking yourself why this bread is popular here, click here to read about the history of Portuguese immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Also click here for more history on Nantucket. And… you know when I said Nantucket, many of you thought of this:
For the book…
A friend suggested this book to me, thinking I would like it since it was historical fiction. When I bought it, I couldn’t help but think “this looks like a beach read.” Then, I read that Elin Hilderbrand was the “Queen of Beach Reads.” I know I have read many books but this is the first, for me, by Hildrebrand.
I really do not know how to summarize this book so including the Amazon summary:
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.
So, did I like this book? I guess I did although I felt the “historical fiction” part was a little misleading. The history was more like small appearances in the novel. I think of historical fiction as learning ABOUT an event while reading the novel…not reading OF the event. I felt like, other than the mention of Vietnam War, the history part came more towards the last 1/4 of the book. I did like reading a perspective of the aftermath after Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick wreck. I can’t help but be amazed at how money and power of the Kennedy family has never really held them accountable for any of their ill-begotten choices. I thought reading this book was a nice break, as well, from some of the “heavier” books I have read recently. Sometimes, it is nice just to read a story of a family finding their way through a difficult situation.
Although I am not usually a “beach read” type person, I think I could read some more of her books (but not 28 Summers…I can’t read something that revolves around two married people carrying on an affair for 28 summers).
More bread pictures…
