For the month of July when many of us are spending time with family at summer homes and rentals, we’re highlighting books in which houses are imbued with so much meaning they can be considered characters in their own right. From a rambling Cape Cod estate to a stately pile on the Cornish coast, the houses in these books have borne witness to centuries of family drama. In the words of bestselling author Kate Morton, “Some houses whisper, ‘write my story!’ so loudly, that it’s impossible not to start imagining what the walls might have seen.”

The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home by George Howe Colt

Faced with its imminent sale, Colt pays one last visit to the summer house where five generations of his family gathered for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, divorces, deaths and everything in between. This moving tribute is both personal memoir and historical record of Cape Cod and captures both the ephemeral pleasures of summer and the complexity of the passage of time.

The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan

An 1846 Victorian perched on a bluff in coastal Maine serves as a nexus for the tales of protagonist Jane Flanagan, a Harvard archivist hired to research its history, and the women who have lived there through the years. In the face of a personal crisis that threatens to unravel her life, Jane embarks on her own journey of self-discovery while her work reveals the impact of colonialism on the Indigenous communities of Maine.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

A grand mansion in the suburbs of Philadelphia was the idyllic childhood home of siblings Danny and Maeve Conroy before they were exiled by their stepmother. Danny reflects on their deep connection to one another and five generations of family life in the Dutch House as he attempts to make peace with its fraught past.

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

‘Self Reliance’ is the name of the Van Laar family’s opulent European chalet in the Adirondack Mountains as well as the philosophy of the summer camp they run there. As the mystery of a missing child unravels, so, too does the family’s seemingly perfect façade, revealing dysfunction, misogyny, and the corruption of wealth.

The Lake House by Kate Morton

In this 2015 mystery, an ambitious young detective named Sadie Sparrow revives a seventy-year-old cold case involving the disappearance of eleven-month-old Theo Edevane from his crib during a Midsummer Eve party at Loeanneth, his family’s estate in Southwest England. Sadie’s interest is piqued when she happens upon the abandoned lake house during a visit to her grandfather. With the help of a local policeman and the prodding of Theo’s older sister, Alice, Saide unravels the mystery along with the Edevane’s complex family dynamics.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

In this 1938 classic, Maxim de Winter’s new young bride can hardly believe her luck in marrying the wealthy widower and inhabiting the massive British estate known as Manderley. That is, until she realizes that both are still haunted by the memory of Maxim’s first wife, the titular Rebecca, who died under mysterious circumstances. Rebecca’s devoted housekeeper, the sinister Mrs. Danvers, subtly torments the new Mrs. de Winter as she struggles to overcome the power of the past and assert her own identity in the household. Bonus: There have been several film adaptations of this psychological thriller, including the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock classic starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.

Scranton Selections are written by various staff members. This month’s contributor is Library Technical Assistant, Julie Northrup.

BAKING, COOKING, AND DROOLING

I like to cook and bake, but more than actually doing it, I enjoy perusing cookbooks. Photos of food perfectly laid out on plates and tables with bright, popping colors are soothing to my soul. I’ll never be able to achieve photo perfection with my own cooking, but I find it comforting to know that other people can. I brag that my food tastes good, even if it lacks in appearance.

-Thia Wrightsman, Reference Librarian

If you are a breakfast person, then you need 100 Morning Treats: with Muffins, Rolls, Biscuits, Sweet and Savory Breakfast Breads, and More by Sarah Kieffer. Kieffer is the genius behind The Vanilla Bean Blog. Her recipes are yummy, but her photos are even better. We all need photographs of beautiful Cardamom Pistachio Twists to drool over, even if we are too lazy to bake them ourselves.

The first book I used to teach myself to bake was Baking Illustrated: A Best Recipe Classic by Cook’s Illustrated. Though it doesn’t have as many photographs as I would like, it does provide superb baking instructions and delicious recipes. Need the perfect snickerdoodle or brownie recipe? Look no further.

I’m partial to Italian sweets, and this book, Dolci! American Baking with an Italian Accent by Renato Poliafito has some of the most delicious-looking photographs of my favorite Italian treats.

If you are planning a party, The Dinner Party Project by Natasha Feldman is the perfect book. Stunning photographs with great ideas for feeding groups easily.

I like to cook dinner with minimal steps and ingredients. RecipeTin Eats Dinner by Nagi Maehashi (who has a blog by the same name) has easy recipes with excellent photographs.

Deb Perelman of the Smitten Kitchen blog is the queen of making recipes with the fewest ingredients and pans possible, without losing flavor. Her book, Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant and Unfussy New Favorites, has some of her best recipes, like red lentil soup, dal style, and sizzling beef bulgogi tacos.

If you are feeling adventurous and are obsessed with Middle-Eastern food like me, then try Zaitoun by Yasmin Khan. Purchase some za’atar and sumac spices so you’re prepared and enjoy her easy, flavorful recipes. My favorites are the chicken shawarma, the roasted chicken with sumac and red onions, and the fattoush.

Scranton Selections are written by various staff members. This month’s contributor is Thia Wrightsman, Reference Librarian.