I spent three weeks at beautiful Lac Pythonga, swimming, sunning, spa – ing, hiking, socializing, reading.
The one book I loved is a classic I’d left on an earlier trip, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night, published in 1933. The story haunted me.
It’s set just after World War 1, and concerns a posh set of mostly ex-pat Americans behaving badly in Europe. First, we meet Rosemary, a young film star. She’s in the South of France, hot on the heels of her starring role in Daddy’s Girl. On the beach, she falls for handsome Dick Diver, a physician married to the wealthy and beautiful and mentally unstable Nicole. (The couple met in the asylum where Nicole’s dastardly father had set her.) Dick fends off Rosemary, but the idea of the two of them together destabilizes Nicole.
There’s a lightness to this book because of its magical setting, madcap energy, and youthful characters. But there’s an undercurrent of sadness, for those lost in or damaged by the war, for the “purchase” of Dick by Nicole’s family, for Dick’s inevitable decline.
This is a complex, unforgettable read.
One of the things I miss most when I’m away, off the grid, is serial TV, which are a lot like novels.
Since I’ve been home, I’ve begun Task (HBO/Max), which stars Mark Ruffalo as an FBI agent on the hunt for thieves whose steady gig is upended by murder and kidnapping. Task is set in the same economically troubled part of Pennsylvania where the series Mare of Easttown took place. Both are written and created by Brad Inglesby. Each episode, of seven, is doled out Sundays.
Earlier in the summer I gobbled up (thank you, Deborah) the series Good Girls Revolt, (Prime) which is 
loosely based on the 1970 court case brought by women writers at Newsweek who sought equal opportunity. It’s smart and trashy, with echoes of Mad Men. The fashions, music, cars — pitch perfect.
With this week’s Emmy awards, I cheered for The Pitt (HBO/Max) and its stellar cast. The series was exhausting, as it should be, because it tells the story of a full day and night in an urban ER.
The awards led me to watch Adolescence (Netflix). I’m only two (of four) episodes in 
and astonished by its story, characters and and filming. Each episode is a continuous shot.
I’m hoping that you, like me, are saving the last days of summer. Thanks for reading. Hopefully I’ll have more book recommendations next post.