A Hundred Summers, written in 2013 by Beatriz Williams, is a historical romance and drama set against the backdrop of the devastating 1938 New England hurricane. The novel moves between two timelines—1931 and 1938—and centers on Lily Dane, a reserved young woman from a wealthy New York family who spends her summers in the elite seaside community of Seaview, Rhode Island.
In 1931, Lily falls deeply in love with Nick Greenwald, a charismatic and ambitious young man from a Jewish family. Their romance develops quickly and passionately, despite the prejudices of Lily’s upper-class social circle and her family’s disapproval of Nick’s background. Lily’s glamorous and manipulative best friend, Budgie Byrne, is also part of their social world. Although Lily and Nick become engaged and plan to marry, their relationship collapses after a series of misunderstandings and family crises. Lily believes she is responsible for her father’s stroke and sacrifices her happiness by ending her engagement to Nick. Heartbroken, Nick leaves for Europe, and the two lose contact for years.
By the summer of 1938, Lily has withdrawn into a quieter life in Seaview, caring for her young sister Kiki while trying to bury the pain of the past. Her world is disrupted when Nick returns to Seaview—now married to Budgie. Their arrival stirs gossip among the wealthy vacationers and forces Lily to confront unresolved emotions. Budgie appears charming and carefree on the surface, but cracks in her marriage and personality soon emerge. Meanwhile, Graham Pendleton, a former college athlete and baseball star, begins courting Lily, offering the possibility of stability and respectability.
As the summer progresses, long-hidden secrets begin to surface. Lily learns that Budgie and Nick’s marriage is deeply unhappy and built on manipulation rather than love. Additional revelations expose complicated family betrayals, including an affair involving Lily’s mother that altered the course of several lives. Lily also discovers that many of the assumptions she carried for years—including her guilt over her father’s illness and Nick’s supposed betrayal—were based on lies and misunderstandings created by others.
The emotional tension reaches its climax as the catastrophic 1938 hurricane strikes the Rhode Island coast. The storm destroys homes, separates loved ones, and forces the characters into desperate acts of survival. During the disaster, Budgie ultimately dies, while Lily, Nick, and Kiki narrowly escape. The tragedy clears away years of deception and emotional barriers.
In the novel’s epilogue, Lily and Nick finally rebuild their lives together. They marry, start a family, and move forward with a renewed sense of honesty and hope, while the shadow of war begins to loom over the world once again.