I read this book for a cruise visit to Newport, but unfortunately the weather was too difficult for tindering boats, so we ended up just cruising yesterday. But I did finish this book instead.

I was surprised that it also had mystery as well as multi-generational stories. It features three timelines:
2019 Andie - a home renovator for a tv show who is working on 3 rooms of Sprague Hall. She senses mysterious things happening in the house and had complications getting the house ready for renovation. Lucky still lives in the home but the tv production cannot meet with her.
1899 Ellen: Ellen is a vocal coach, hired to work with a Sprague sister’s singing so she can impress a visiting prince (who needs to marry an heiress)
1957 Lucky: Lucky is the wife of Stuy, a man who has eyes for every other woman in the world and an affection for alcohol, while she tries not to fall for a man who is actually interested in her (but is also married in an unusual situation). Her father in law is dying and she finds out shocking inheritance information.

Newport society is fun to read about and the mysteries were surprising twists to me. This is a completely made up story but of course the locations are real. The stories from 1899 and 1957 were the most fascinating to me and I often didn’t want to put it down.

“It’s funny how things get a little stuffy, no matter how big the room is.” Ch 9

“Like the painted columns that were meant to appear marble, superficiality seemed to be the dominant architectural style of Sprague Hall.” Ch 10

“She glanced at the sky—hazy blue, no sign yet of the familiar cumulonimbus bruising the horizon to the west.” Ch 15

“You are yourself and none other. Most people, they are chameleons. They play to those in power, angling for advantage. I have never seen you be anything but what you are.” Ch 20

A couple of scenes have fun mythology references:
“There is a legend,” he said, “that once all people were complete in themselves. It made them too strong. It threatened the gods. So Zeus, with his lightning, split us in two. And, ever since, we have been left weak and wanting, searching for our other half to make us whole.” Ch 20

The story was kind of fun but the writing seemed kind of retrograde in its attitudes, and not when portraying the past. It was predictable without the charm that would redeem that.

Perfection, as are all their books!! Loved how the story and the story tellers were woven together.

The Lost Summers of Newport is the most recent collaboration between Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White. Karen White is a must-read author for me, and I have enjoyed her other collaborations with Team W. The Lost Summers of Newport did not disappoint! Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I love it when Beatriz, Lauren and Karen get together! They write some of my favorite books alone and together.

Once again we get 3 different time lines (1899, 1958 and 2019) and meet 3 women with intersecting stories. There is mystery, drama and many secrets. This took me a couple days to read but it's perfect for summer and I read as fast as I could to find out what happens. There is a lot going on but it didn't take me long to keep the characters straight.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Published 17 May 2022

The Lost Summers of Newport
Karen White, Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willig


The latest team effort from White, Williams and Willig is an exceptional piece of literary fiction featuring three strong females and spanning over a century from the late 1800s to present day highlighting the secrets, lies, consequences and buried bodies surrounding one Newport RI mansion. These storytellers are all masters of their art, drawing their audience right inside the story, keeping them turning pages with their tightly plotted interweaving tales. The main protagonists are all fabulous and readers will have a hard time picking favorites and the secondary characters both good and not so good are utterly unforgettable. The story is seamless and only long-time fans will know who created whom because of the obvious name dropping interlaced within the stories. The narrative flows beautifully and compliments the period it reflects and the backdrops are out of this world and over the top displaying the extravagances of the well to dos of Newport past and present. Fans of any of these award- winning authors, amazing historical fiction and/or strong female protagonists will have a hard time putting this read down.

In 1899 Ellen Daniels is running from her past and the dangerous people that are looking for her. She luckily lands a job teaching music to Maybelle Sprague, a naïve young Newport heiress whose stepbrother is husband shopping for her and just placed an Italian Prince in his cart. Now all Ellen has to do is keep her head down, do her job and help her charge land her Prince.

When Italy fell to the fascists the American heiress turned Italian Princess di Conte escaped with the clothes on her back her beloved granddaughter Lucia and a locked steamer trunk and returned to her birthright Sprague Hall in Newport RI. Now it’s 1958 and Lucky (Lucia) is all grown up and has had it with her philandering husband. She owes it to her slightly senile nonna and her daughter Joanie to stay in this crumbling mansion but the cost just might be her own sanity.

In present day Newport Rhode Island historic preservationist Andrea (Andie) Figuero arrives at a once grande dame now just another decaying Newport great home to start filming the second season of the reality show Makeover Mansion. She should be excited because this is her bread and butter but lately the show’s producers want more reality ie family skeletons falling out of closets and less historic conservancy in the show. Her hopes of meeting the enigmatic matriarch, Lucky Sprague is quickly slipping through her fingers when she realizes she’s got to tell the family the show is now more about digging up family dirt than replacing wallpaper.

I wanted to love this book more and while I did really enjoy certain storylines, I do believe this was an overly ambitious choice for a book. It just left me slightly unsatisfied and felt a little disjointed, really easy to tell that there were multiple authors in this book and that's just not what they were hoping for.

I enjoyed this one a lot! The fact that the three intergenerational women were connected through a house reminded of the first Three E’s book The Forgotten Room, which is my favorite of theirs. This one now holds second place for me. There is the perfect amount of intrigue, sexual tension, mystery, and on-the-edge-of-your-seat-ness.

Three authors, three mysteries, three time periods - all interwoven seamlessly. The three authors are all powerhouse historical fiction writers in their own right and in this novel their collaboration is flawless. Even though it has a small amount of overlap and receptiveness - and a bit of a need to suppress your disbelief in some of the relationship issues - it is so well written that it makes for a fun entertaining read.

I absolutely LOVED the two older timelines in this book. Each storyline was intricately woven with layers upon layers of intrigue. Yes there certainly was the trifle of the lives of the well to do of that time. The plotting and the scheming was so deeply ingrained in their continued pursuit for the personification of success. Readers will absolutely DESPISE John Sprague, feel torn between feeling sorry for or wanting to smack some sense into young Maybelle, and desire more knowledge about Ellen Daniels. Although the background story was filled in for everyone, it seemed like more was necessary to complete Lucky's profile. There wasn't quite enough explanation on how she wound up marrying into the stepfamily. So much to try and unravel with that family tree! The more modern timeline seemed forced as a means to bring it all to cohesion. Andie's character felt a little flat and her mentor really just distracted from the story more than adding to it. There was the build up of multiple mysteries throughout the entire book. That continued suspense in addition to the ease of writing propelled this book along.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. The Lost Summers of Newport was such a fun read! The three intersecting stories come together in such an intriguing way! The opulence and subsequent downfall comes right through the pages. It feels like the Cliff Walk, stunning and crumbling all at once.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The last summer of Newport by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White
This book is set in three time periods. It’s telling the story of a mansion and the people who live in it. It reminded me of another book I read this year called The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelley. With a good bit of romance, mystery, and deception it kept my interest till the very end.

Being a fan of these three authors and their various styles of writing, unfortunately this book did not work for me. I couldn't get into the story and found myself "skimming", especially the chapters about "Ellen". Although I look forward to the next venture by these three authors, I was not a fan of this one. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

A tale of three individuals tied together through a mansion in Newport RI. Filled with interesting details about Newport and its different eras, the three storylines were not as engrossing as they might have been. An entertaining read but not terribly engaging.

I so enjoyed this story! The three timelines were so fun and engaging! I plan to have my book club read it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the authors for this ARC. I have read several of Beatriz William's other works, so I was interested to see how this collaboration matches up with her solo books.

The story finds us in Newport, Rhode Island with three overlapping timelines from 1899, 1958, and 2019. You get drawn into each woman's story quickly, but I found the 2019 storyline with Andie to be the most interesting. As the story progresses, you discover how they connect and secrets from the past are brought to life.

A great beach read!

Wow is the first adjective that comes to the end of this book!!!!! This story is amazing as expected with this amazing trio of authors!!!!!!! Each story these women put out together is amazing!!!!!!

You can always count on the 3Ws to produce a story that truly transports to another time. Love, betrayal, intrigue and loss. While each author is a force unto herself, together they are unstoppable.

A story of three generations of strong women told from three different POVs. A beautiful setting and a story that had me invested. I loved the alternating timelines and think this would make for the perfect summer read.

3.5*
A trio of plotlines connects a shabby mansion that’s getting a makeover in current time and the owners in 1958 who are descendants of the original owners from the Gilded Age. Nestled between the more opulent summer “cottages” along the coast of Newport is Sprague Hall. It is next to the sumptuous Vanderbilt’s Marble House.

The timelines start in 1899 with the Sprague family who can’t match the pedigree of their neighbors with their modest mansion, so they plan to secure an Italian prince as spouse for their niece which will bring increased standing through a royal connection. Later, during WWII, one of the Italian descendants of the family returned to Sprague Hall, fleeing Mussolini. She has been back living at the mansion for a time and ultimately marries another member of the Sprague family. The final timeline brings Andie, a producer of a reality TV show, to the mansion. Her love of historic architecture and her desire to refurbish the home encounters its own obstacles when the producers demand the focus be more salacious and titillating than just a remodel story.

All of the timelines are centered on the mansion. There are machinations and family dynamics that cause turmoil and chaos. As the story progresses, mysteries arise that need to be resolved. But the story strains a bit when it comes to the final revelations.

Still, this should be read because of the setting – the magnificent summer cottages of the obscenely rich - and the upstairs/downstairs stories of those who are connected to the mansion. It is an engaging and intriguing read with characters who are memorable.