The Fifth of July
A Novel

3.5 Stars → The well-to-do Warner family has been summering on Nantucket for decades - it's tradition, after all - but this year tragedy strikes over the 4th of July holiday. The story is told from the points of view of several characters, including different family members, the housekeeper, and the......more

This novel is told from multiple first-person perspectives about a privileged family, the Warners. It’s also told from the perspective of the caretaker, Matt, and the cleaning woman, Maggie Sue. The Warner family is not easy to like. They come together in Nantucket every summer. We know that somethi......more

I know these people, this old-school Nantucket family. I can see the frayed collars of their Brooks Brothers button-downs, the crushed heels of their Sperrys. I can hear the way the screen door slams when they leave their never-remodeled beach house. I can feel how they all mistrust each other--moth......more

One of my favorite aspects of a good book is the way it transports me to another time or place, far from the daily grind. I want to fall into a world with a setting so vivid, I can taste the salt on my lips and hear the cry of a foghorn. Kelly Simmons captures Nantucket life to a “T”; the sea-worn c......more