Our Last Vineyard Summer

This appealing family drama from Foster (All the Summers in Between) unfolds across two impactful summers on Martha’s Vineyard in the 1960s and ’70s. Virgie Whiting, a journalist married to a U.S. senator in New York, longs for independence, and she wants the same for their three daughters. By 1965, Virgie’s progressive newspaper column has driven a wedge between her and her husband, Charlie, who would prefer she stand by his side rather than claim the spotlight. The rift causes her to take the girls to the family’s summer house on Martha’s Vineyard. Fast-forward to 1978, a year after Charlie’s death in a plane crash. Virgie calls her youngest daughter, Betsy, for help, telling her that Charlie was borrowing money to afford a second house on the island and they need to get it fixed up to sell. Betsy, a graduate student in psychology at Columbia, reluctantly agrees, even though she’s busy with her thesis and is getting serious with her professor boyfriend. As the summer wears on, Betsy contends with resentment toward Virgie for asking less of her two older sisters, who are now settled down, and the story hurtles toward another bombshell revelation involving Charlie’s secrets. The expert plotting is matched by pitch-perfect character work. Foster’s fans will adore this. Agent: Rebecca Scherer, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (July)