Summer of '69

Elin Hilderbrand’s Summer of ‘69 (2019), her 25th novel, is a family drama that spans the spring and summer of 1969. The book is set on the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, and historical events such as the Vietnam war, the moon landing, and Ted Kennedy’s car crash at Chappaquiddick provide a vivid backdrop. Only when the characters confront the past and accept the uncertainty of the future, can they embrace what’s most important to them. Hilderbrand revisited these characters in a long story titled Summer of ‘79, available as an eBook.

This guide uses the hardbound version of Summer of ‘69, published in 2019 by Little, Brown and Company.

Content Warning: The novel contains scenes depicting domestic violence and physical fights, references to abortion and drowning, and alcohol misuse. In addition, some characters discuss racial and ethnic prejudice or use racial slurs, which are replicated in this guide only in quoted material.

Plot Summary

Hilderbrand’s Summer of ‘69 follows the Foley-Levin family, particularly its female characters, during the spring and summer of 1969. The family’s world is shaken when 19-year-old Tiger Foley is drafted into the Vietnam War. The plot follows his mother, Kate Levin, and her three daughters—Blair, Kirby, and Jessie—as they navigate personal drama and the changing times.

Using the turbulent backdrop of the Vietnam war and the civil rights and feminism movements, Hilderbrand depicts how personalities change during a family stay on the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. Alternating chapters focus on the differing perspectives of Kate, 48, and her three daughters: Blair Foley Whalen, Kirby Foley, and Jessie Levin.

In the spring, Kate learns that her 19-year-old son, Tiger, has been drafted into the army and must deploy to Vietnam. Distraught, Kate thinks she’s being punished for how she treated his father, Wilder Foley. He died by suicide in 1953, and she feels responsible. Despite loving her second husband, David Levin, Kate drinks excessively. Her drinking keeps her from helping her daughters with their problems and distances her from them. Kate heads to the home of her mother, Exalta.

Kate’s youngest daughter, Jessie, is turning 13. She worries about growing up and how people feel about the fact that she’s Jewish. To feel sophisticated and powerful among her friends, she’s experimenting with shoplifting. Kirby, the middle daughter, is 20 and is working on Martha’s Vineyard to recover from a tumultuous love affair with a police officer who she discovered was married. Blair, Kate’s eldest daughter, is 24, pregnant, and debating leaving her husband, Angus Whalen—an astrophysicist whose job keeps him away (and who might be having an affair)—for his attractive younger brother, Joey.

Wilder’s infidelity haunts Kate since the couple fought over it just before his death. His lover at the time was Lorraine Crimmins, the daughter of Bill, the caretaker of the family home. Pregnant, Lorraine left Nantucket for California, where she gave birth to Pick. Bill recently brought Pick back to Nantucket because Lorraine disappeared. The two stay in a small adjacent house on the property.

Jessie starts tennis lessons at the Field and Oar Club, which she finds elitist. She worries that Exalta harbors prejudiced sentiments. When her male tennis instructor touches her inappropriately, Jessie’s powerlessness triggers the urge to shoplift. She develops a habit of shoplifting whenever she’s upset, culminating in her stealing an heirloom necklace from Exalta. When she loses it, she must talk to her grandmother, who grounds her. However, Exalta expresses sympathy for Jessie, who then stops shoplifting.

Kirby meets affluent African American Harvard student Darren Frazier, and the two fall for each other. However, Darren’s mother—the physician who diagnosed Kirby’s pregnancy several months earlier—doesn’t approve of their relationship. Kirby is afraid she’ll lose Darren if he learns her secret. When he deliberately avoids inviting her to family gatherings, Kirby suspects that Darren has hidden the fact they’re dating. No longer willing to have the secret of her past keep her captive, Kirby tells Darren everything about her relationship with officer Scottie Turbo. Darren accepts all this without judgment, but in telling the story, Kirby realizes that she can’t have another clandestine relationship, and the two break up. Kirby is sad but sure she made the right choice.

Blair worries that she’ll give birth alone because she hasn’t heard from either Angus or Joey. She starts to realize that she must act independently rather than wait for romantic rescue. Although Angus tries to visit Blair to explain his affair, he runs into Kate, who sends him away. On the day of the moon launch, Blair gives birth to their twins while Angus works at mission control. She’s excited to head into her new life as a mother, and her anger toward Angus dissipates.

As Kate’s drinking continues, David suggests that they buy a new house and distance themselves from Exalta’s influence and Kate’s past, but Kate doesn’t know how to break her cycle of self-harm. Eventually, she realizes that her former focus on propriety and keeping silent gave her no advantage, and she submits an offer on the house David likes.

Jessie and Pick kiss. Convinced that she’s in love, Jessie starts making romantic plans before Pick reveals that he has a girlfriend, Sabrina. Jessie’s sadness and anger over Pick make her consider shoplifting again, especially when she learns that another girl was sexually touched at the Club. She redirects her anger toward activism and reports the crime. When Lorraine arrives unexpectedly to retrieve Pick, Jessie tells Kate that she loves him. This prompts Kate to confess her secrets. She reveals that Pick’s father is Wilder and that she confronted him about it, triggering his death by suicide. Jessie shows Kate sympathy, realizing how desperate and lonely keeping this secret must’ve been for her mother.

Kirby is fired from her job after abandoning her shift to help protect her friend Patty from her drunken boyfriend. Darren drives Kirby to the ferry. When he kisses her in public, she decides to give their romance another chance. On the boat, she unexpectedly runs into Scottie Turbo and his pregnant wife. In a coded conversation, Kirby finally says goodbye to her old flame. At Exalta’s house, Kirby encourages Blair to talk openly with Angus. Returning from Houston, Angus tells Blair that he wasn’t having an affair as she thought. He meets with a therapist to address his thoughts of sadness and vows to communicate more honestly in the future. Blair tells him that she wants to go back to school, and they reconcile.

By Thanksgiving, the Foley-Levin world has changed for the better. Magee has joined them as Tiger’s fiancée, Jessie has a new boyfriend, and Blair and Angus are happy with their more balanced relationship. Kirby has revealed her romance with Darren to Exalta, who has become much more accepting of others’ differences since she started a new relationship with Bill. Tiger is still in Vietnam but has found a sense of purpose as a soldier. Kate surprises them all with the newly purchased house, and David carries her over the threshold like a newlywed. A new appreciation of family and true love abounds.