Summer Darlings with Author Brooke Lea Foster

Take a trip back to 1960’s Martha’s Vineyard in Brooke Lea Foster’s debut novel Summer Darlings. The novel tells the story of Heddy Winsome, who takes a job as a nanny for the two children of one of the wealthiest families on the island. With her entire future hanging in balance, Heddy finds herself increasingly drawn to the glamorous lives of those around her, however, things are not always as they appear.

The novel is full of rich descriptions of 1960’s Martha’s Vineyard drawing you into the past, as the story unfolds in front of you. From the very first moment I picked up the book, I was enamored with the cast of characters Foster created, descriptions of the 1960’s fashions, and the story kept my attention right up to the final page.

In this interview, Foster gives us an inside look into when she first came up with the storyline, her favorite memories of summers on Martha’s Vineyard and a sneak peek into her next novel.

As a special surprise one lucky reader has the chance to win a signed copy of Summer Darlings. Just leave a comment at the bottom of the post. The winner will be announced on this Saturday’s edition of ‘On the List’!

Summer Darlings is your first novel. When did you first come up with the idea for the book?

I was visiting the island in the summer of 2016 when I learned about three beautiful houses that captured my interest. They sit side-by-side on a narrow spit of land that juts out into Vineyard Sound. In the 1950s, a granddaughter to the Standard Oil fortune lived in one of the mansions, a famous Broadway stage actress in another, and in between, there was a ramshackle fishing cottage housing a bachelor. Those were small details, but they took off in my imagination. I immediately imagined the waspy Jean-Rose living in a grand Victorian house with her “perfect” family, a voluptuous movie star Gigi McCabe in the other, and an eligible bachelor in the fishing cottage in between. The story took off from there when I realized it would center around Heddy, a young scholarship student coming to work as a nanny on the island. I heard the characters talking to each other. I saw them strolling the beach and ducking into shopfronts in Edgartown. By the way, you can still rent that ramshackle “cottage” — for $14,500 a week.

Previously you’ve written articles for publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and have written three nonfiction books. What was it like going from writing non-fiction to fiction?

As a journalist I was accustomed to interviewing people and developing a story or article around other people’s ideas. In fiction it was up to my imagination to keep things interesting. This was daunting at times because you’re staring at a blank page thinking: What am I going to say? But the truth is…I had a lot to say. I discovered my voice writing fiction, and I relied on my inner compass to guide the characters and the story. I read a profile of an author recently who said that a novel resolves some unexplained part of you, and I think that’s true. As I was writing, storylines and subplots came to me, and I suppose I was working through ideas, like the way women tear each other down but also build each other up, and the notion that money really doesn’t buy happiness. 

You studied at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence. What was one of the greatest lessons you learned there?

My teachers at The Writing Institute were incredible, both published novelists themselves. At some point in the revision process, I was struggling with my ending. I had a very exciting ending in mind from the start, but originally I wrote a pretty predictable “ride off into the sunset” happy ending. 

When I workshopped the novel with peers – my teachers and other writers read it and offered critical feedback – everyone agreed that the predictable ending wasn’t satisfying. I hated the ending, too, and when I admitted that, my teacher asked about the ending I had in mind. I hedged, saying something like, “Well, I’m sure my idea is terrible, and I don’t think it works, and I’m not sure how to make it add up, but…” and then I shared my idea. Everyone’s eyes lit up. My teacher said: “Write the ending you want, not the one you think readers want.” The reason this moved me is that I realized then that I was holding myself back in my writing. I had forgotten that the whole point of fiction to tell a story that’s original and surprising. So I allowed the novel to become a caper in the end, which is the ending I’d always envisioned from the day I thought up the story on the beach in Martha’s Vineyard. 

I love your descriptions of 1960’s Martha’s Vineyard. How much research did you do into the 1960’s (including the fashion trends) before you started writing?

A ton of research was involved. I have this thick collection of New Yorker stories from the 1950s and 1960s that I’d read on and off for a feel for the time period, but I did a ton of research on style and fashion, too. I love the vintage styles of the early 1960s, particularly the summer wear, and I had fashion books and perused Etsy for ideas. At the Brooklyn Flea or Chelsea Market in the city, I’d study the costume jewelry of that era, and admittedly, I picked up a few items that I thought my characters might have worn. I used clothing to help tell the story of my characters throughout the novel. For example, Jean-Rose’s fine silk blouses and dresses compared to Gigi’s plunging necklines were a sharp contrast to Heddy’s borrowed bathing suits and sundresses. 

What are some of your favorite memories from the summers you spend on Martha’s Vineyard?

We brought our puppy to the Vineyard one of the first summers we went there, when I was in my early twenties, and I remember teaching him how to swim at State Beach, which is a huge stretch of sand between Edgartown and Oak Bluffs. My kids have grown from babies to long legged 5 and 10-year-olds on the shores of the Vineyard, and over the years, there are lots of memories of waving to the Clinton’s, when they summered there, and then the Obamas, as they passed by in a car. But it’s not one memory that sticks out: my love of the Vineyard is more like a collage. Paddle-boarding in the salt ponds, getting fresh veggies grown at Morning Glory Farm, the time my husband lost his wedding band in Vineyard Sound, stumbling out of A Bunch of Grapes bookshop with an armful of novels and smelling the salt air, lobsters on the beach in Menemsha at sunset. It’s one of those beach towns that gets under your skin so much that you can’t help be look at real estate listings, just for fun.  

Were any parts of the novel written while on location?

I never had a laptop on the island when I was developing the novel, but I often brought revision pages. I remember going back to the island for the first time after writing the story and seeing my characters everywhere. I’d be playing with my kids at the beach and imagine Heddy riding by on her bike. Or I’d be eating an ice cream cone in Oak Bluffs and imagine Heddy standing on tip-toe to kiss Ash for the first time. One night while watching the sunset at Menemsha, I imagined Heddy and Ash out on a boat going night crabbing, and when I got home, I wrote the scene. That scene is still a part of the novel today. 

Do any of the characters resemble people you’ve met or are they purely fictional?

They are purely fictional; they are all composite characters. These people popped into my head like thoughts, and they started to talk to me, and I got to know them. I don’t recognize any of these characters directly from my life. That being said, I’m sure that these characters echo some of the individuals I’ve met or interviewed over the years, their motivations might have been inspired by something I heard or observed. I couldn’t tell you who, but in developing characters, you realize that you’re taking a little of one person, a chunk of another, and creating personalities that move your plot forward. 

If you could have met Heddy in real life, what are some of the questions you would like to have asked her?

I would have asked her why she is so convinced that money will buy happiness. Because she begins the story believing that to be true, and as the novel goes on, she realizes that the wealthiest people on the island are struggling emotionally. We all have our stuff, inner emotional turmoil, and we’re all working through it. But I don’t want to ask her questions as much as I want to counsel her and reassure her that she’s going to find her way, that everything will be okay. That she will succeed. 

What was your favorite scene to write?

Ooh. This is a fun question. I love the scenes with Gigi McCabe – Gigi is such a fun character, and I loved Heddy’s friendship with her. In many ways they’re opposites, and yet they’re so much alike. But my favorite scene in the novel is when Heddy goes to Gigi’s Mid-Summer Nights party, and she’s standing there, alone, in a crowd of well-coiffed women hoping to get Ash to notice her. She makes eye contact with him and counts to five slowly, as Gigi instructs her, and as she waits for him to come, she doubts herself, all the while trying to put on an air of confidence. When he finally does come, she’s so happy. I love that scene because it reminds me of being a young woman and falling for someone and wanting the reassurance that they’re interested in you, too. There’s so much vulnerability and joy and adrenaline, and I would blast Niall Horan’s song, “This Town”  as I was writing it because I could just feel and see the love. It was great fun. 

Are you currently working on your next novel, and if so, can we get a sneak peek?

My second novel is being read by my agent right now. It takes place in 1957 in Southampton on Long Island, and it follows a young wealthy engaged couple from the city. On a day trip to the beach town, he gifts her a hotel as an early wedding present and announces his plan for them to stay for the summer season. But my main character is miserable and falls in with a group of artists and finds her creative self while he’s building up this hotel. I’m being cryptic, but hopefully I can say more soon! I love these characters as much as I love Heddy and the others from Summer Darlings. 

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