Summer Lightning
In this sweeping, multi-generational novel Roberta Silman explores the meaning of Alexander Herzen's observation: Art, and the summer lightning of individual happiness: these are the only real goods we have. After a casual encounter at Lindbergh's flight from Roosevelt Field in 1927, Belle and Isaac find each other again, and thus begins the story of this engaging family as it tries to try to find its place in tumultuous mid-Twentieth century America.
Set in Europe, then Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island, as well as England and the Berkshires, Summer Lightning is as intricate as a Beethoven Sonata. Although the bonds between parents and children and siblings are strong, there is also a yearning for something more. So, we watch Belle and Isaac and their daughters, Sophy and Vivie, veer into unexpected paths as they negotiate the perils of the Depression, the Second World War, McCarthyism, and the burgeoning fight for Civil Rights. Living "against the grain" these vivid characters take risks as they strengthen their ties to the turmoil in Europe, to the quirky Manhattan art scene of Larry Rivers and Frank O'Hara and their "gang," and to the Black community. As their story unfolds, they experience profound happiness and are also tested in ways they could never have imagined. Their triumphs are a testament to the resilience of the human spirit; what makes them so memorable and compelling is that they never forget who they are and where they came from.
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