Nancy Brewster, a recluse living on the New England shore, reflects on the baleful events that have cruelly shaped her life. Writing her memoirs — largely to exorcise the “insanity” that for years kept her locked in a sanitarium — Nancy’s thoughts linger most deeply on her encounter with Isabel March, an enigmatic poet and practiced husband-stealer. Soon Nancy’s wistful, seemingly random memories carry us to a climax as startling and monstrous as any in contemporary fiction.
The Summer of ’39 was inspired by the events — as recorded in the author’s biography of Robert Graves — which occurred when poets Graves and Laura Riding left Europe to spend a summer with a young American couple.