57 pages • 1 hour read
Kristin HannahSummer Island: A Novel
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Pain of Family Secrets and Estrangement
At its core, Summer Island is a novel focused on healing the wounds caused by family secrets and estrangement. At the beginning of the text, Nora is a successful advice columnist who lives in constant fear that her secret—that she abandoned her daughters and is estranged from them—will be revealed to her adoring fans. Notably, these details are not the source of her fall from grace; instead, the public is horrified by her illicit and short-lived affair.
Through Nora, the novel suggests that secrets can have an exhausting and toxic impact. Nora spent most of her childhood and adult life trying to keep things hidden. When she tells Ruby about her father, she explains that she hid his alcohol addiction and his abuse because “[i]t’s what children of alcoholics do. They keep secrets” (210). By masking elements of her life—and the pain they have caused—Nora set into motion a long line of additional secrets. She hid the fact that Rand cheated on her and never revealed her true motivations for abandoning the family, leaving both Caroline and Ruby to assume their mother left to pursue her career. As a result, both Caroline and Ruby live lives engulfed by estrangement and subterfuge: Ruby is unable to get close to anyone, while Caroline struggles in a difficult marriage, unable to disclose her pain.
Nora’s secrets reach a boiling point and set the stage for the truth to come out. Her accident—the result of her drinking to forget her painful secrets—reunites her with Ruby at the summer house, allowing them to reconcile and address their pain. Though Ruby is ultimately desperate to keep her article unpublished, Nora insists she publish it: “I was right to trust you, Ruby. I knew it when I finished reading. You listened and you wrote, and when it was over, you’d revealed me.” (371). By disclosing her secrets to Ruby, who then reveals them to the world, Nora is able to finally feel complete and at peace. In the process, she allows Ruby to feel the same: “She is the keeper of my past. She knows the secret moments that have formed me, and even with all that I have done to her, I can feel that still she is able to love me” (312).
While the Bridge women deal primarily with the pain that secrets cause, the Sloan brothers grapple with the pain of estrangement. It is only when Eric is close to death that the two men can mend their relationship. Eric explains that the rift between him and Dean undid him: “You broke my heart” (121). However, the two brothers find peace and comfort by addressing their estrangement, showing the value of communication and honesty. Notably, Eric is never able to fix the chasm between him and his parents, but he appears to make peace by building his own family. As he tells Nora before he dies, she has always been his true mother.
The Consequences of Fame and Maintaining Appearances
When Nora is haunted by the consequences of her past, she clings to her fame and persona as a way to forget her pain. Many characters in the novel act similarly, treating celebrity and appearance as measures of their success in overcoming trauma. Nora, at the beginning of the novel, is obsessed with her looks. When she grocery shops and cooks with Ruby, she is fixated on the calorie count of food and how it will affect her body. Caroline is similarly obsessed with her physical appearance. She is always polished and beautifully dressed, despite having two small children who are ill-behaved. Notably, when Caroline is hungover and at the summer house, Jeremy comes to fix their marriage. It is only when Caroline does not care about her physical appearance—and the carefully crafted lie she’s constructed to pretend everything in her life is okay—that the real healing in her marriage can occur.
Before Nora’s public scandal, she clung to her persona as a radio star. On her birthday she assumes that her coworkers and employees are preparing to celebrate her:
They were down in the conference room now, setting out food, bottles of champagne, plates filled with peach slices. Assistants, publicists, staff writers, producers, they were all preparing to spend an hour of their valuable personal time to put together a ‘surprise’ party for the newest star of talk radio (24-25).
However, no one is there when she arrives, showing that her newfound fame is fleeting and conditional on her maintaining a saintly appearance. The nude photos of her cast aspersions on her public appearance, and make her unworthy in the eyes of her previously adoring public. In this way, the novel shows how fame is fragile: Family, not celebrity, should be one’s anchor.
Nora continues to focus on her physicality throughout the scandal. When Ruby shows her a newspaper article, Nora’s initial disgust is due to the fact that they included an unflattering picture of her. This makes it clear that Nora still hasn’t overcome her past trauma. As Nora begins to heal, she begins to consider more complex issues related to her fame. After she watches a television show that discusses her, she begins to rethink her relationship with being in the public eye.
Ruby also realizes, based on her mother’s experience, that fame is not for her: “It was fun. In a reporters-following-you-into-the-bathroom-stall sort of way. Being famous is harsh. I turned down the sitcom offers” (381). Instead of pursuing fame—something she desperately wanted when she was still haunted by her past trauma—Ruby decides to pursue a quiet and happier life with Dean, implying that fame and appearances don’t ultimately matter if you are at peace with your life and choices.
The Healing Power of Forgiveness and Releasing the Past
Many of the characters in the novel struggle to forgive or forget the past, leading them to harbor negative feelings and habits. The novel shows how this leads to irresponsible behavior and pain. For example, Ruby struggles with forgiving Nora for her past misdeeds and transgressions. As a result, she lives in a perpetual state of adolescence, despite being 27. This is most evident when she decides to write the article about Nora as a form of revenge: “Ruby closed her eyes, wanting it so much her head hurt” (63). Instead of spending her advance on necessary items, she buys an expensive dress and a used luxury car, impulse purchases that she chastises herself for later.
As Ruby spends time with Nora, she realizes that, while Nora caused her a tremendous amount of pain, she is still the conduit between her past and future. This galvanizes Ruby to try to get out of turning in the article: “She knows the secret moments that have formed me, and even with all that I have done to her, I can feel that still she is able to love me. Will anyone else ever love me so unconditionally? I doubt it.” (312). At this point in the story, Ruby is not fully healed from her past, primarily because her history with Dean is unresolved. As a result, her initial reaction to not turn in the article is immature; she ignores the fact that she is under contractual obligation.
It is only after she consummates her relationship with Dean—and accepts his proposal—that she can make peace with the article and the pain it will cause her mother. Ruby’s decision to share the article with Nora—to publicly forgive her and release their past—allows Nora to finally have the courage to fight back against the media. As a result, both Ruby and Nora can find strength and peace. This shows that releasing the past and granting forgiveness are fundamental to moving forward.
Related Titles
By Kristin Hannah
