In this bittersweet, nostalgic summer getaway of a novel, Elyssa Friedland (The Floating Feldmans) brings two families full circle over the fate of a storied hotel they've owned together for three generations.
The Golden, a luxury hotel compound in the Catskills built by lifelong best friends and business partners Benny Goldman and Amos Weingold in 1960, has lost its shine in the modern era of trendy, Instagrammable getaways. Benny recently died, leaving Amos feeling adrift, and the families stopped socializing together years ago. When a development company offers to buy the Golden, three generations of Goldmans and Weingolds gather at the hotel: the elderly originals; their adult, midlife-crisis-afflicted children; and their tech-savvy, relationship-challenged young adult grandkids. Old tensions and new romances arise as they decide if the nostalgia and storied legacy of the hotel can save it, or if they're having their last summer at the Golden.
Family secrets abound and existential crises flourish in this exuberant love letter to the Borscht Belt, but readers will find plenty of laughs and heartwarming moments in the mix as relationships heal and new ties form. Friedland conjures the ghost of bygone glamour and lingering conflict masterfully as the families argue, reminisce and learn "goat excrement is totally washable" in an ill-fated exploration into trendy hotel activities. Episodes of intergenerational disconnect contrasted with unshakeable family bonds make Last Summer at the Golden Hotel a great choice for fans of Schitt's Creek and feel-good family dramedies. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads