Turquoise Summer

by Mary Beth Lagerborg

Turquoise Summer, a novel, is the story of a newspaper editor, his wife, their African American maid, and their 11-year-old precocious granddaughter, Maggie, on vacation in Grand Lake, Colorado, in 1947. Maggie is a Nancy Drew wannabe who believes she must uncover and solve a mystery to make her vacation complete. The capable maid, Alma, finds that managing Maggie takes her places she never dreamed she would go.

Genres: Fiction

274 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2015

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: Beth Lagerborg is my aunt, and I love summers in Grand Lake. This book is a very special compilation of memories, real and imagined. The choice of an eleven year old main character is brilliant.

[Val Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our friend Maureen came to visit recently. She brought with her Turquoise Summer by Mary Beth Lagerborg. Mary Beth is a personal historian who captures clients' memoirs or family stories in custom-published books. She is already the author of nine non-fiction books, and is co-creator, with Mimi Wilson, of the ultimate do-ahead dinner technique, Once-A-Month Cooking. Apparently, this book has helped thousands of people to strengthen family mealtimes. Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorites, a later book of entirely different recipes, includes a two-week family menu plan of gluten-free recipes. However, Turquoise Summer is her first fiction novel.

Turquoise Summer is the debut novel of Mary Beth Lagerborg, and is set in Grand Lake, Colorado, in 1947 when grandparents from Kansas, Frank and Jane Hamilton, take their granddaughter, Maggie on holiday with them to Grand Lake. Their maid, Alma, who is a wonderful cook is persuaded to forgo her own vacation to join the family. Frank wants to fly fish. Jane wants to leave her social obligations behind and find a summer passion. Alma will help to look after Maggie.

Maggie believes that in a creaky old cabin with a cranky grandmother she must uncover and solve a mystery to make her vacation complete. When her Uncle Max joins the family, his attempt to win kudos in a sailing competition ends in hilarious disaster. It is a relatively short novel full of gentle humour and excellent character descriptions. This is not a book that I would have picked up, had I seen it. However, I enjoyed Turquoise Summer and am glad I had a chance to read it.

Valerie Penny

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spending summers in Grand Lake in the '60's and all the great things came right back to me. My Grandmother was named Nana, my middle name Adele and we had an outstanding cook. Cris Crafts and E sailboats. Fishing with Nana. About the only pleasures this book missed were badminton at the yacht club, canoe races and picking raspberries.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute book! We love Grand Lake, so when I saw this gem at the bookstore, I bought it for my next read. Grandparents Frank and Jane took their 11 year old granddaughter Maggie and their maid Alma on a month long vacation to Grand Lake, Colorado. Maggie loves Nancy Drew and is chomping at the bits to solve a mystery. Really clever writing! A fun read! 5 Stars

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recipes in the back of the book which were mentioned in the story. Easy read.