Beatriz Williams‘s The Beach at Summerly is a sweeping historical fiction and espionage novel, written in 2023 and set on the fictional Winthrop Island off the New England coast. Told across alternating timelines in 1946 and 1954, it follows the gripping story of Emilia Winthrop as she navigates class divides, dangerous Cold War secrets, and family betrayals.
The Summer of 1946
In the immediate aftermath of WWII, the exclusive island enclave of Summerly—the grand estate of the wealthy Peabody family—is returning to a glamorous social life. Twenty-year-old Emilia Winthrop, daughter of the estate’s working-class caretaker, is a year-round islander whose dreams of attending college are sidelined by the necessity of caring for her incapacitated mother. Her life shifts dramatically with the arrival of the surviving Peabody sons, Amory and Shep, and their glamorous, worldly Aunt Olive.
Olive takes Emilia under her wing, opening her eyes to the world beyond the island, while Emilia’s childhood best friend, Shep, returns from the military and a tender romance begins to blossom between them. However, this idyllic summer is abruptly shattered by the arrival of Sumner Fox, an enigmatic man claiming to write a book. Fox reveals himself to be an FBI agent and drops a devastating truth: Aunt Olive is a Soviet spy transmitting vital intelligence on Western atomic programs from within the Peabody estate. Fox forces a terrified Emilia to cooperate, placing her right in the middle of a high-stakes espionage web.
Eight Years Later
The timeline then flashes forward to April 1954. Summerly is boarded up, and Emilia has escaped her island ties, successfully rebuilding her life as a professor at Wellesley College. Her quiet life is violently interrupted when she receives shocking news from Washington: the Soviet traitor she helped convict all those years ago is about to be part of an international prisoner exchange. The Soviets have requested a mysterious, highly specific condition that only Emilia can fulfill.
Summoned to CIA headquarters, a reluctant Emilia is forced to confront the harrowing fallout and personal sacrifices that were made that fateful summer. She is thrust into a terrifying situation where her choices threaten to destroy the Peabody family and completely obliterate her own hard-won chance at redemption and peace.
At its core, The Beach at Summerly is a compelling coming-of-age story interwoven with Cold War suspense. It explores the rigid class structures of post-war New England, the painful price of loyalty, and the difficult choices a young woman must make when she is caught between her love for her community and her duty to her country.