Shorecliff

by Ursula DeYoung

Spending the summer of 1928 in a big house on the Maine coast with his 10 older cousins and a gaggle of aunts and uncles seems like a dream come true to lonely 13-year-old Richard.

But as he wanders through the bustling house, Richard witnesses scenes and conversations not meant for him and watches as the family he adores disintegrates into a tangle of lust, jealousy, and betrayal. At first only an avid spectator, Richard soon finds himself drawn into the confusion, battling with his first experience of infatuation and forced to cover for his relatives' romantic intrigues.

With jump-off-the-page characters and a captivating sense of place, SHORECLIFF examines the bonds of loyalty and rivalry that can both knit a family together and drive it apart.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Coming Of Age, Historical, Summer, Adult, Young Adult

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Ursula DeYoung grew up in a small seaside town north of Boston. She studied History and Literature at Harvard and received a Ph.D. in History from Oxford. She currently lives in Cambridge, MA, where she spends her time writing and reading fiction, teaching at the GrubStreet Writing Center in Boston, working as a freelance editor, and editing the literary journal EMBARK (embarkliteraryjournal.com), which features the openings of as-yet-unpublished novels.

Reviews

[Jaclyn Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like a close cousin (no pun intended) to Rules of Civility, but other than the obvious similarities—the cover art, the time periods, one big twist that I won’t reveal—it also had the same slow-burning (but intriguing!) plot and pacing.

Shorecliff is the name of a summer home in Maine, and in 1928, our 13-year-old narrator (Richard) travels there with his mother to spend the summer months with his aunts, uncles and 10 cousins.

Most of the book is about the family members and their interactions with each other. There are a lot of pent-up adolescent hormones trapped in the house and that takes some interesting—and unexpected—turns. Richard, a serial eavesdropper, is often too young to really understand what’s being talked about, which is why he carries a dictionary around with him. (For example, he looks up “incest” after his aunt mentions it in the context of the mess of teenage cousins all packed together for weeks on end.)

File this one under “really satisfying coming-of-age novel.” It would have been better read on a beach somewhere probably (though I wouldn’t file it under “beach reads”). Anyway, it was still a good companion to have on a chilly night and I stayed up way too late finishing it. If you liked Rules of Civility, you’ll like this.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.

Honestly, I didn't really enjoy this much. I've this out from the library for what seems like forever, because I just couldn't get into it. It has something to do with the plot, something to do with the characters, and something to do with the writing style, which all combines to just make you go "bleh."

First, there are the characters. The narrator, Richard Killing II, is a grown man talking about a summer he spent at his family's house in Maine, Shorecliff, with his extensive network of aunts, uncles, and cousins. This extensive network is not good, because it means you have to keep up with upwards of twenty characters at any given time, and many of them are only distinguishable from each other by one particular trait. For example, Isabelle is the gangly, awkward one, and Fisher is the one who likes birds, and Francesca is the beautiful one. Lengthy physical descriptions of these characters are dumped in your lap during the first chapter, not in a very artful way, and then never mentioned again. Their personalities and manners of speaking aren't very different from each other at all, and they tend to blur together and leave you wondering who exactly is doing what. Also, Richard in the story is supposed to be 13 years old; he acts more like he's 8. This might be because the book is set in 1928, but honestly there isn't much made of this setting and it's very easy to forget that the story doesn't take place in modern times, which leaves things a little squishy in your brain--and not in a good way.

Then there's the plot. In the first chapter, one of the aunts--who are also apparently supposed to be indistinguishable from each other, for the most part--proclaims that Shorecliff is "ripe for incest." This seems to be setting up the plot for the rest of the book, but really it isn't. The plot is more along the lines of no plot at all; it's just a bunch of people rambling about in Maine during the summer and having issues with each other. Sure, a couple of the cousins have things for each other or pretend to have things for each other, but none of it actually goes anywhere, and it seems like a huge potential conflict was left behind. Narrator-Richard keeps talking about the "catastrophe" of the summer and DeYoung attempts to make it seem like all of the summer's events led up to that moment, but in reality it doesn't seem like they did. The "catastrophe" was not a climax of events--it could have just as easily happened in the beginning of the book as the end, which doesn't make it seem very climatic at all. The "mystery" of the loss of the family fortune also isn't very stunning, nor is Uncle Kurt, who's supposed to be a "mysterious" character.

The writing style is bland; there's a lot of telling and not a heck of a lot of showing, which is exasperating, and a ton of info-dumping that could have been done in a much more artful way. Additionally, there's a ton of exposition at the end of the book, telling where each ended up and what they did for pretty much the rest of their lives. That was boring, and for the most part unnecessary, because I didn't particularly care about these characters. None of them were very lovable, and DeYoung didn't go out of her way to make me root for any of them. They were just there, and I didn't care what happened to them in more than a, "Oh, that's vaguely interesting but I would have been just as happy not knowing" sort of way.

Overall, a pretty dull book that didn't get any better as it went on.

1.5 stars out of 5.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm peeved. I read this book because I was given the false hope that something seismic would happen. I had to believe that it was more than the everyday events of some overprivileged, middle-class white folk at their summer retreat during the 1920s that made the Famous Five adventures look like Mission Impossible. I had to keep reminding myself that the story was taking place in New England and not Great Britain. All DeYoung needed to do was pepper the narrative with "jeepers", "blast" and "crikey".

And so the big disaster happened and I could have cared less after all the minor betrayals and deceptions I had to plough through to get there. Told from the perspective of a 13-year-old who needed to do some major maturing.

Reading this book constitutes days of my life that I will never get back. Bah.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the story of a dozen random cousins who spend an incredibly boring summer together at their family's home. I wish I could say something more about the book, but that's all I've got. Yes, tragedy happens. Yes, there are weird family politics and relationships. Yes, there are a million of the most dull, unexciting characters ever (seriously, I would have traded at least 8 of the cousins for three solid interesting characters). No, it doesn't get much better than that.

You know how sometimes when you're listening to someone else's story, you stop caring after a while if you're not personally invested? That would sum up the total experience about this book. Somewhere around page 10, I honestly stopped having any interest in what happened to any of the characters, which made this a painful novel to slog through. (To be completely transparent, I had to finish this book because I was 1 shy of my 2013 reading goal... if that was not the case, it would have been shelved.)

Who would like this book? Anyone who enjoys listening to other people's boring vacations.

Who should skip this book? Most people with a pulse.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really tried my patience. It's a well-crafted story that will all solidify by the final chapter. However, in the interim you have to keep 11 cousins very close in age and 9 aunts and uncles straight in a summer house in Maine in 1928. I had to Xerox the family tree on the first page to help me attempt to keep everybody straight but I had a hard time nonetheless. The story is slow and told from the perspective of 13 yr. old Richard. By taking his point of view, I had to realize that his idea of something big happening is not what a middle-age woman like myself will feel the same way about. So bearing that in mind, it's not a bad book just a little lethargic for my taste.

[Ashley Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made it about 70% through this book and decided to put it down. I kept going because the way the story is about family secrets and stuff really reminded me of one of my all-time favorite books, “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng. But the more I read the more I realized this was just a more BORING version of that. Plus there were too many characters to keep up with and have to keep straight, especially amongst the cousins.
Sorry. This one wasn’t for me. But of the nearly 70% I read, I rate it 2 stars

[Lujia · Rating 1 out of 5]

"this hoUSE iS pRIMED FOR *INCEST*"

Have you ever read "We Were Liars" (WWL)? Because this book is like a bad wannabe of WWL despITE Shorecliff being published first.

Lots of jUICY stage setting that doesn't come through. The dynamic between everyone seemed a bit shallow and inconsistent. The writing was kind of slow and distracting. I'm sorry I didn't enjoy it :((((
This book needs Chekov's Gun principle - where if something isnt relevant to the plot, don't mention it.

- The cousins aren't apparently very close, they act like strangers? But somehow BOOM become close but also not close enough? Like... what.
- The mc Richard and Pamela are said to hang out with each other but this is totally one sided and never really happens? And she ignores Richard all the time?
- Ah yes... I spend all morning with Uncle Kurt. This was supposed to be a motif. There was supposed to be more weight of this but honestly no.
- Lorelei walks around on her fields barefoot? Her character is one sided and really unintelligent (even though every claims she is)
- They constantly play croquet and squabble and cooperate enough to have a big Edie bday that aLLUDES to setting the house on fire but that was a scam.

Idk i dont know what to think.
Climax and big sECRETs did not deliver.

It was like having a bunch of traintracks set up, full steam ahead... only to have each break down or fall off the track before the end.

Too many simultaneous plotlines and random outbursts and technicalities.
Like Hennessey?? Richard's dad? Where did everybody go :(

[Raquel · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I could sum this up in one line it would be: TOO MANY COUSINS.

Seriously. Not including the narrator, there are 10 mostly unremarkable young adults to keep track of. As well as 5 aunts, 4 uncles, and a great uncle. Plus a grpundskeeper and an innocently sexy neighbor. Lord almighty. Every few pages I had to flip back to the family tree at the front because so many of these characters were so indistinguishable from each other. Two of them had the same name. You cannot make this shit up.

At first I thought it would be full of secrets and drama and intrigue as promised by the jacket copy, but it was all rather soggy and bland and no one's personality was distinct enough that anyone felt real. All the things that happen to the cousins feel like disconnected beads on a string that never create a full necklace.

A skilled editor reading this at an early stage would have served the narrative well by telling the author to focus on 5 cousins max and create real, distinct characters. As a result of having 21 characters to manage, the cast was too big and unwieldy and neither plot nor characters ever took on three dimensions. Most were caricatures: the coquettish aunt, the spinster, the matron, the sweet young one, the fifth one whose personality I don't even recall. And so on for the rest of them. The language was also stiff and academic, which made the narrator feel all the more removed from the story. The word plangent is used at one point completely unironically. Are you kitten me.

A harmless weekend read in the genre of cousins at a summer house getting into trouble, but a wholly unmemorable one.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Loved the opening line of this book,"The summer when I was thirteen years old changed everything for me." This was the summer that he and his mother traveled to the family home "Shorecliff" to spend the summer with his aunts, various uncles and eleven assorted cousins. It was the first time they had all spent this much time together, in the summer house. It was a summer where secrets were revealed, memories good and bad were made, and a summer that started with happiness but would end in tragedy.

My family also had a summer house where we would spend the summers with my aunts and various cousins, so much like this one. We all grew up together over those summers and though we do not always see each other as often as we would like, when we do we always fall into reminiscing about those wonderful times. Luckily for us, our summer did not end up like Richards. This was a good coming of age book, a book of families and the many divergent personalities within, clearly and poignantly written. A book about lives lived, and innocence lost. It was a bit confusing in the beginning to keep track of all the family members, but as I read it did get much easier. They all had such distinct personalities and traits, which the author did a wonderful job in describing. I liked at the end that she took the time to explain further where all the family members were after this fateful summer. Good, quiet and entertains read, which reminded me so of my childhood.

[Sonia Reppe · Rating 5 out of 5]

"My cousins had served before that summer as vague mythical figures to idolize, and their allure was infinitely more powerful after three months of living with them."

"The summer when I was thirteen years old changed everything for me..."

Richard is the youngest of 11 cousins among his mother's extended family at Shorecliff (Maine) in the summer of 1928. With a child's enthusiasm, he relishes his older cousin's company, and observes their jealousies, rivalries, troublemaking, scandals, friendships and bonds of love. Looking back from an older point-of-view, he recalls his fascination with their different personalities, and how he developed his own possessive feelings for one cousin in particular, which leads to a regret of a lifetime.

The jacket makes a big deal about secrets and lies, but more prominent is the love and fun times. The book is light-hearted at times, despite the tragedy at the very end; it's very nostalgic and beautifully written--I loved it. Two things: the cover is horrible! It does not capture the tone or voice or setting or people at all. Black and white because it takes place in the 20's? This book is very colorful! Also, Richard's voice at times seems a lot younger than 13.

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was something about this book that felt familiar, and comforting, nearly until the end, when things take a turn for the worse among the Hatfield cousins. Maybe it's because I have a large extended family, and because when I was younger I always yearned to spend an entire summer with my cousins. In any case, this is a story of family tragedy that has left me feeling beautifully haunted.

[Stephanie Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tried and tried and tried but just couldn't get into this book...the author spent too much time on useless detail instead of keeping you interested in the story...still not sure what the story line even was.

[Joann Garrido · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would give it 4.5 stars if I could. Really enjoyed this book!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a gift that had been sitting on my shelf for a long time and I was determined to finally give it a chance.

Reading this book I was often reminded of the advice given in high school about short story writing, not to introduce 'a cast of thousands'. Obviously a novel allows much greater opportunity to develop characters than the kind of short story we were writing at school, nevertheless this is an absurdly large family group and for a lot of the book I struggled to remember who was who and what the various relationships were. The girls in particular had few defining characteristics apart from physical appearance. I also struggled with ye olden times setting which seemed to have been mainly used to give the author a reason to lock the characters into a location without the escapes of smartphones, alcohol and Uber.

The front cover proclaims that DeYoung helps us remember what it's like to be young again. I failed however to find anything to identify with in Richard's experience of youth, the central premise of which seems to be that it's completely normal to fancy your cousins (hello again Crow Road) and creep around spying on them. Richard is also incredibly naive and it's hard to believe that he's 13, even though his only source of knowledge is an ancient dictionary. It struck me as very odd that right up until the end he paints himself as an onlooker who is rarely allowed into the coveted a world of his older cousins but then suddenly inflates massively with a sense of his own self importance in blaming himself utterly for 'destroying Francesca'. The ending was also foreshadowed in a heavy handed way to the point that the impact of it was diminished.

Having said all that, the story rushes along like babbling brook and carries the reader with it in a somewhat enjoyable way.

[Marissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. It's an okay book if you want to imagine yourself as part of the family, spending the summer at the beach in Maine (something I enjoy doing). The writing isn't that bad but...

I expected something more though. I expected something like a murder or two of the cousins getting together and one getting pregnant. Something truly scandalous. The book sets up the expectation of at least two cousins getting together when one aunt says the house is "ripe for incest". Two of the girls had feelings for two of the boys but that's it. The actual family secrets are not really that shocking.

The other problem with this novel is that there were too many characters. This made it difficult to separate the characters and give each character their own personalities. So, some of the characters blended together. I finished reading this book quickly and scanned over some parts because, after learning the "shocking" secrets, I was not that into it.

[Margo Littell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sprawling house in Maine, a gaggle of cousins and aunts and uncles, and a summer that changes the lives of an entire multigenerational family--this is Shorecliff, a riveting novel of nostalgia and regret. The ancestral home at the heart of the story is as vivid as the characters who sleep within its walls, and each detail--from the ill-fated birthday celebration for a crotchety aunt to the captivity and taming of a fox--is rendered with the kind of poignancy and dreaminess that mark the most unforgettable moments of our lives.

[Xavier Stegelin · Rating 1 out of 5]

There was a lot going on in Shorecliff. I feel like any one of the multiple story lines present in this book would have sufficed as its own novel, and putting them all together feels like overkill. There's also weird normalization of incest that I just can't get behind and put a bad taste in my mouth for the entire book. Shorecliff made me uncomfortable in a way that I don't think was intentional, and I can't really recommend it to anyone.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seriously, next time I read one of these over populated books I will buy a family tree chart and try very hard to keep track of ALL these people. Someone give auntie and uncle a condom or the pill. Sheesh. Other than that, it moved slowly which nearly put me to sleep. But I made it to the end where the punch was and it hit hard on the twist. So 3.5.

[Christine Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story of one fateful summer at Shorecliff, where aunts, uncles and a slew of cousins spend their days swimming, playing croquet, gossiping and eavesdropping. They find out more than they ever wanted to know and their lives are changed forever. Very well-written, from the youngest cousin's point of view; a good read!

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A competently-executed and successful, though perhaps not very ambitious, novel. Absolutely dazzles, though, in comparison to A Discovery of Witches. This book wasn’t self-indulgent at all, and that’s not something to be said of very many first novels. Not bad at all for something I snatched off the BPL shelf as the security guard was yelling THE LIBRARY IS CLOSING

[Marnie Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started out liking this book, it reminded me of Cold Sassy Tree as it was a story about a boy around the same age and his family, the writing was good but I got bored after awhile because nothing happens. DNF

[Valerie Best · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, masterfully paced. From the very first this story has a "knife on the mantelpiece" kind of simmer to it that it maintains throughout the book.

[Barbara Marak · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely boring book, did not finish.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book! It was too slow for me.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was close to a 5 for me. Its overall effect had me wrapped up in a nostalgic haze, and every so often I would put the book down just to lose myself in daydreams of Shorecliff or various tangents within the storyscape.

It’s a great portrait of what happens when you have a family, predominantly made up of a large group of teenagers, together in the middle of nowhere for a summer. Lusts, feuds, friendships, and general shenanigans ensue that may seem petty to an outsider, but take on significance within a family dynamic. Yes, there are a lot of names to keep track of, but if you regularly read historical fiction, this family tree is nothing complicated; and yes, our narrator is surprisingly naïve for a 13-year-old—even if it is the 1920s—but he is too endearing for me to take any serious issue with that.

Instead, my one issue was a style one. DeYoung’s narrator, Richard, is ‘writing’ as an adult reflecting on the past. I’m not a huge fan of this convention, as it can easily lead to telling the reader what they should expect, and can feel a tad theatrical. When handled delicately, it creates anticipation, but DeYoung writes with a heavy hand when it comes to foreshadowing and from the first page we are set up to expect some dramatic event. And as others have noted, the “shocks” elicit little response.

Strangely, there was enough material to work with—the events could have been mined for bigger results—but everything seemed toned down, especially in the afterword that neatly tidied up any of the more shocking storylines. For a story in which I used so much of my imagination, I would have liked a little leeway at the end to continue using it, and I think I could have envisioned an end that would have delivered far more satisfactorily on the dramatic promise that seemed to lurk throughout the prose.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win an advance copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway!

Shorecliff is the story of a boy who goes to stay with his extended family (cousins, aunts, uncles) for the summer and grows up a lot in the process. I guess you could say it's a coming-of-age tale.

This is an enjoyable book. It's interesting to read about the interactions between family members, and what happens when people are stuck in a house together for a whole summer with “nothing to do.” I enjoyed reading along with the narrator, Richard, as he discovers that the family he idolizes is not as perfect as he thought.

There are strange (mostly unexplored) incestuous undertones in this book, so if that sort of thing bothers you, you should probably pick something else.

I also felt like there was an overuse of foreshadowing, like the author doesn't know how to use a light hand yet. Don't get me wrong, for the most part I enjoyed it and thought it was fairly well-written, but the foreshadowing got to be a bit much and, because of it, I was kind of let down by the end of the story. I also feel that the author was going for a dark tale of woe, but honestly most of the book is fairly lighthearted. It meanders around, detailing the fun little outings that the cousins take together and how they bond.

Overall, though, this was a fun bit of historical fiction. I'm giving it 3.5 stars.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A coming of age story about 11 cousins and their mothers and some of their fathers as they vacation at Shorecliff for the summer. They are far out of town, with only each other to amuse one another. It would have been a good book if the characters were portrayed realistically for their age. Richard,the storyteller of this novel, shares the position of youngest cousin with Pamela, both 13 yrs old. The author writes about Richard and Pamela as though they are children, more like 10 not teens. Richard has a dictionary to look up all the adult words his older cousins use, like prostitute. Who at 13, especially a boy doesn't know what that is? And while sexual tensions are flying higher between the 18 to 20 yr old cousins Richard isn't given any budding sexual feelings. He's 13! He should be lusting after every female yet the author makes him play the part of a child with no clue. I had no idea it was the 1920's. It felt much like the 80's or 90's. I suppose a 13 yr old would be more naive in the 20's but he would still have sexual feelings in abundance at 13. If you can get past how the ages don't match up with the maturity then you'll probably enjoy this book.

[Carol Ann Jellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the summer of 1928, 13 year old Richard is very excited to spend the summer with his crowd of older cousins, aunts, and uncles in a huge vacation house on the coast of Maine. He is a lonely only child and wants badly to be a part of everything that is going on. But as the youngest he is often left out of activities and especially conversations. He has become very adept at eavesdropping and tries to use his ill-gotten information as a way into the cousins' inner circle. He also has a very active imagination and uses that to create scenarios of ideal relationships in his mind. However, by the end, he finds himself the center of disaster and has to learn how his actions can have very ugly consequences.
While reading this, I remembered those times when I was young and in the company of adults - how I tried to understand what was being discussed but often finding I was clueless as the sub-text and innuendos sailed over my head. At times I felt Richard seemed younger than 13 given his enthusiasm and lack of maturity. But I decided that perhaps that was due to the era - 13 year-olds are, sadly, more jaded now.

[Beverly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spending the summer of 1928 in a big house on the Maine coast with his 10 older cousins and a gaggle of aunts and uncles seems like a dream come true to lonely 13-year-old Richard.

But as he wanders through the bustling house, Richard witnesses scenes and conversations not meant for him and watches as the family he adores disintegrates into a tangle of lust, jealousy, and betrayal. At first only an avid spectator, Richard soon finds himself drawn into the confusion, battling with his first experience of infatuation and forced to cover for his relatives' romantic intrigues.

With jump-off-the-page characters and a captivating sense of place, SHORECLIFF examines the bonds of loyalty and rivalry that can both knit a family together and drive it apart. (less)

I did not like this book - as one reviewer said "it was boring"
I wish you got to know more of each cousin and what drove them. Was a stupid story. I wish I could remember why I put it on my list - I don't see any of my other good read friends who read it - must have been a review in the paper.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author did a great job with setting. I really got a feel for the old summer house and the grounds, including the beach and the cliffs. She used the setting to suggest a foreboding that didn't go along very well with the final scenes in the book. The story was populated by a large cast, with many if the characters falling in the same as range. I admit I had trouble keeping them all straight. What she did wonderfully was capture the relationships between cousins in a large family. The narrator expressed a wide range of emotions that felt very authentic to me. One character seemed to exist only to move the plot in a certain direction. There was much good writing in this novel, but it felt like the author had decided early on what the final shocking scene would be and she built up an often boring story around it.