In the midst of a ferocious heat wave, cooling down with an addicting novel sounds better than ever. Luckily, there are plenty of summer-centered literary masterpieces waiting to be read, allowing the psychological effects of intense heat to be explored from the comfort of an air-conditioned room or an ocean-facing beach chair. These page-turners burst with passion, suspense and intrigue — everything required for an engrossing beach read. Intricate character design coupled with ample descriptions of stunning coastal scenery, from post-war Naples to sunny California to the opulent Italian islands, cement them as summer classics. While darker themes set these beach reads apart from the typical rom-coms that usually come to mind, the freedom of summer may be just what is needed to dig into a thought-provoking story.
“Slouching Towards Bethlehem” by Joan Didion
A glittering portrait of 1960s California, Didion’s collection of personal essays, short stories and journalistic pieces form a compelling tale about the “Summer of Love.” The book depicts the lives of both the beloved, such as legendary Western star John Wayne and folk singer Joan Baez, and the overlooked, such as the children of the San Francisco hippie scene and the immigrants to Hawaii in the post-war era, haunted by their oligarchical past. Conveyed in Didion’s uniquely observant prose, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” is an unabashedly raw portrayal of everyday life under the blazing California sun.
The collection opens up with a story of love, murder and justice, revealing the dark side of a sunny San Bernardino neighborhood when a housewife is accused of lighting a car on fire with her husband inside. The titular story revolves around the Haight-Asbury neighborhood, portraying the sex, drugs and counterculture lifestyle in the harsh light of reality, without any of the usual glamour. Didion’s personal essays are interspersed, exploring themes of family, home and sense of self against the backdrop of her own life. By perceiving each character with her penetrative gaze, Didion extrapolates universally understood sentiments about the general human experience from the lives of the individuals she meets. The suffocating heat of a California summer is essential to the ambiance of “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” complemented by the captivating realism.
“The Talented Mr. Ripley” by Patricia Highsmith
The vibrant cast of characters illustrated in Highsmith’s classic psychological thriller, “The Talented Mr. Ripley” are driven to the brink of sheer madness and exhaustion in the summer heat despite the glittering coastal backdrop. The novel follows the insidiously charming con artist Tom Ripley, who befriends socialite Dickie Greenleaf while simultaneously plotting to murder him and take over his life. The plot twists and turns down narrow Italian streets as Ripley must evade discovery of his crime, for which he shows little remorse. The intensity of the plot is juxtaposed against a beautiful summer setting, as the wealthy characters lounge around sundrenched Italian towns unaware of the dangerous outsider in their midst.
Renowned as one of the most incredible international crime thrillers of all time, the story of Ripley’s crime and subsequent attempts at evasion flip the genre on its head by encouraging readers to root for the perpetrator, rather than the detectives or victims that the usual stories follow. “The Talented Mr. Ripley” is a riveting story suitable for taking one’s mind off of the July heat, making it a wonderful choice for a beach read.
“My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante
Set in the underbelly of post-war Naples, “My Brilliant Friend” follows the complex friendship and rivalry of the ferocious Lila and the bookish Elena throughout their childhood and adolescence. The two girls possess remarkable intelligence but are restrained by the violence and poverty of their neighborhood, wrestling with the choice between attempting to escape the cycle by leaving home completely or playing along with society's expectations in order to rise above them. Their paths intersect and diverge as they evolve, but their relationship is perpetually marked by Elena’s complete devotion to Lila, using her close friend as the pillar by which she measures her own life.
The neighborhood is a character in its own right, with a rich sociopolitical history unbeknownst to the children yet felt within them nonetheless. The vibrant inhabitants of the town leap off the page with their innate brutality made understandable by Ferrante's empathetic prose. “My Brilliant Friend” explores a place suffering from years of complicated relationships between households, misogyny, classism and an engrained sense of cruelty where even elementary schoolers hurl sharp rocks at each other's heads until someone bleeds. Approached with both the innocence of a child and the wisdom of one who has had to grow up far too fast, “My Brilliant Friend” is a beautiful novel that encapsulates the feeling of childhood summer from a unique point of view.
The oppressive heat of July will make these characters perfect companions for a welcome day at the beach as they begin their own journeys under the same sweltering sun. Expertly crafted and lauded for their unique style and compelling storylines, these books offer a delightful distraction from the heat.
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