Summersea

by Eileen Lottman

When Bianca Wilder decides to prolong a summer job at a resort hotel on the New Jersey shore, she never imagines she will be swept back in time to a bygone era.

Genres: Gothic, Time Travel, Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

aka Harry Barney, Mike Cogan, Jessica Evans, Molly Flute, Samantha Mellors, Maud Willis.

Eileen Lottman spent her adolescence during World War II in Sioux City, Iowa cheering up Army Air Force personnel who were stationed at a base in town. She has written and published 23 novels and has been working on the 24th for the past 18 years.

Reviews

[CLM · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lonely college student, Bianca took a summer job at a fading hotel on the Jersey shore run by an affectionate elderly couple. By the time the summer ends, she has become so fond of them she asks to stay on, deciding she can manage the long commute to college by bus. Then Bianca begins to have vivid dreams at night of the guests who came to Summersea during the summer of 1924, and she falls in love with one of these bygone guests.

The time travel elements of this novel were wistful and appealing, in stark contrast to Bianca's whiny 70s era college classmates and boyfriend. That made the book feel very dated, in the same way that Lenora Mattingly Weber's Stacy Belford books seem more discordant than her Beany Malone books. I did enjoy this book, although couldn't decide if the ending was sad or hopeful - possibly both.

[Carol Pouliot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This time-travel novel is one of my favorites. I re-read it every few years and still find new things to love about it. Highly recommended.

[izzlewizzle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re read and it’s actually kinda offensive

[Gaynel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished re-reading this book. I was concerned that I wouldn't like it this time around. People do change...

I needn't have worried. True, it was a little weird to realize that at one time people went into a school auditorium, marched up the a table with the teacher sitting behind it to register for classes - no online computers? There were things called 'yellows' and 'reds' you took to get high. The 70's were a different time.

So were the 20's I guess..

When Summersea was published wayyyy back in 1975 it cost $1.25 and was called 'Gothic'. It was written by Eileen Lottman, the author of 'The Greek Tycoon' (That subject was popular back then) and later went on the write novelized forms of 'Dynasty' and 'Bionic Woman'.

It tells the story of Bianca (I know) Wilder, a young woman enrolled in Film School in New Jersey. After working in an old run-down hotel on the Jersey Shore she convinces the elderly owners to let her stay on through the winter. During that winter Bianca (that name!), Binky for short (not much better) finds herself in Summersea during the summer of 1924. In the hotel she meets and falls in love with the man of her dreams.

In contrast, as a film student, Bianca fends off the advances of a motorcycle riding young man and finds herself at odds with the culture and morals of the hip '70's.

What's not to love?

True, the read was a bit amatuerish and weak at times. Sometimes I felt like the author was at war herself with modern times. Myself, I kept wondering what the love interest of 1924 was going to do when 1929 came around. And I did have some empathy for the stud of 1975. (It's always been my favorite decade) And the ending, well, I have no idea what to think about the ending...Do wish I'd known what the author had in mind with that ending.

But cynicism aside, the story swept me up. It was romantic, sweet, bittersweet, comforting. I'm glad I found it again.