The Book:
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland
Published May 18th 2021 by Berkley Books
Date read: December 4, 2021
The Characters:
Goldman family
Weingold family
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
A family reunion for the ages when two clans convene for the summer at their beloved getaway in the Catskills–perfect for fans of Dirty Dancing and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel–from the acclaimed author of The Floating Feldmans.
In its heyday, The Golden Hotel was the crown jewel of the hotter-than-hot Catskills vacation scene. For more than sixty years, the Goldman and Weingold families – best friends and business partners – have presided over this glamorous resort which served as a second home for well-heeled guests and celebrities. But the Catskills are not what they used to be – and neither is the relationship between the Goldmans and the Weingolds. As the facilities and management begin to fall apart, a tempting offer to sell forces the two families together again to make a heart-wrenching decision. Can they save their beloved Golden or is it too late?
Long-buried secrets emerge, new dramas and financial scandal erupt, and everyone from the traditional grandparents to the millennial grandchildren wants a say in the hotel’s future. Business and pleasure clash in this fast-paced, hilarious, nostalgia-filled story, where the hotel owners rediscover the magic of a bygone era of nonstop fun even as they grapple with what may be their last resort.
The Review:
Thank you to the author for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!
Talk about a book I meant to read forever ago! Last Summer at the Golden Hotel has been staring at me longingly from my shelves for months. I finally read it at the beginning of December, and it’s been sitting in my photograph-for-Instagram pile ever since.
I adored this summery, character-driven read! The drama between these two families had me laughing out loud at some passages. With so many different generations in the room, you’re sure to get wildly varying opinions on what to do about the hotel. While I enjoyed the plot about whether they’d be able to save the hotel, this is ultimately a book about the importance of family, both biological and chosen.
This is the first book I’ve read by Friedland, and I really enjoyed her writing style. The way she told the story of the Golden Hotel had me caring about it just as much as the characters by the end of the book.
While reading, I was picturing the season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel where the characters go to this kind of resort. It was nice to have that frame of reference, and I’m sure this novel would be full of nostalgia for anyone that went to a family summer camp like this growing up! It sounds like the sort of thing I would have really enjoyed as a kid.
I have The Floating Feldmans on my shelf, which I’m excited to pick up next. If you haven’t read Last Summer at the Golden Hotel yet, I would definitely recommend picking up a copy for next summer’s reads.
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