Summer Sisters

In 1977, Caitlin (age 12) transfers to Acequia Madre Elementary School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and her pale hair, “satin skin,” and blue eyes make her popular. She’s tough and cusses, and she invites the shy Vix Leonard (also 12) to spend the summer with her on an island (the Vineyard) in the middle of the ocean (the Atlantic) with her dad.

Vix asks her mom, Tawny, if she can go, but her mom thinks it’s a bad idea, though her dad, Ed, a quiet but kind person, takes Vix’s side and convinces Tawny to let her go. Vix doesn’t know much about her parents. When she asks her mom questions, Tawny replies that they shouldn’t “wash” their “linen” publicly.

Tawny worked for a young lawyer until she married Ed. After three miscarriages, they had Vix, Lanie, Lewis, and Nathan, who has muscular dystrophy. Ed worked for an insurance company and now manages a hotel. Tawny assists a woman known as the Countess, and Ed thinks Tawny has become “hard.”

Lanie wonders why the uber-popular Caitlin invited Vix to the Vineyard, and Vix isn’t sure why Caitlin chose her either. Vix lets Lanie use her Barbies while she’s gone, and Vix promises Nathan that she won’t forget him.

Caitlin has a 14-year-old brother, Sharkey, a dad named Lamb who loves the Beatles, and an older dog, Sweetie. Her mother, Phoebe, takes summers off of parenting and is heading to France. After an airplane ride, a long drive, and a trip on the ferry, Caitlin and Vix arrive at the Vineyard house as the phone rings—it’s Tawny, and she’s upset at Vix for not calling.

Phoebe wonders how long Vix will last. Last year’s friend went home after 10 days. Phoebe has “wanderlust” and doesn’t label herself a “bad” mom, but she knows she’s not a “very good” mom.

Caitlin refers to her Vineyard home as a “Psycho House”—it’s messy, dark, and sandy. In their room, there are headless Barbies and jars filled with dead bugs. Caitlin says Lamb was a “hippie,” and Lamb and Caitlin don’t change clothes often. Caitlin doesn’t change her underwear—sometimes, she doesn’t wear underwear.

There’s no TV, so Caitlin and Lamb read books like Ideal Marriage and Love Without Fear and look up the sexual terms. Phoebe and Lamb had an “open marriage” until they amicably divorced, and Phoebe took Caitlin to live in New Mexico.

In the woods, Vix says she’s 1/16th Cherokee, and Caitlin claims she was a mermaid in her “former life.” They vow to “never be ordinary”—NBO. In their room, they listen to ABBA and the Eagles. Caitlin is jealous of Vix’s pubic hair, and the girls play mermaids before they pretend to be Vixen and Cassandra—Summer Sisters. They realize they have the Power: If they rub “between their legs,” their bodies feel electric.

At the Flying Horses (America’s oldest carousel), they meet “gorgeous” Von and his cousin Bru (they’re around 16). Von calls the girls Double Trouble, and Caitlin thinks she saw a girl put her hand on Von’s penis in the alley, but Vix can’t say penis, so they name it “The Package.” The friends invent a “new game”—Vixen and Cassandra Meet Von. They lie on top of one another, and the person on top pretends to be Von, and they rub their Powers together until the electricity starts.

Caitlin likes how Vix doesn’t ask questions or interfere with her plans for fun. Vix feels guilty for not missing her family, but she writes Nathan once a week and sends him gifts from the island, like a jar of water from the dirty pond. Lamb thinks Vix is quiet like Sharkey, but Caitlin thinks Vix is nothing like Sharkey, who doesn’t “need friends.” He likes being by himself.

Lamb used to have a romantic relationship with Trisha, and he helped Trisha start her muffin business. Lamb, Trisha, Caitlin, and Vix go to Gay Head (now known as Aquinnah) to see the Atlantic Ocean—Vix recently learned that “gay” and “head” have other meanings. A nude beach borders the Atlantic Ocean. Trisha undresses, and her “humongous breasts” captivate Vix. Trisha feels bad for taking off her clothes. If Vix told her mom about the nude beach, she’d make her come home.

Lamb leaves for Boston, and Sharkey takes Caitlin and Vix for a ride in the truck. A storm strands Lamb in Boston. He returns with Abby Baum and her son, Daniel—Caitlin didn’t know her dad has a girlfriend. Abby lived in Chicago but moved to Boston after her divorce. She plans to earn her MBA the following summer, and when she sees the messy house, she’s displeased.

Everything about Abby makes Lamb happy—it’s not just sex—and he sings Beatles songs in the outdoor shower. Abby is 37, and she and Lamb have known each other for four months. Since her divorce from Marty, she feels “stronger” and “confident.” Abby makes Caitlin unhappy, and Caitlin bullies her by detailing Lamb and Trisha’s sexual history. Daniel thinks the house is a “dump”—he argues with his mom about inviting a friend, Gus Kline. Lamb sides with Daniel, and the “slovenly” Gus arrives.

At the end of the summer, Caitlin tells Vix she’s going to a private school in Santa Fe, Mountain Day. Vix doesn’t want to lose Caitlin, and she wonders if Caitlin and her new Mountain Day friends use the Power together.

At home, Vix doesn’t use the Power much. Tawny frets over bills and sees Phoebe and a younger man at the Countess’s party. Vix says not all of Phoebe’s friends are her “lovers,” and Tawny wants to slap Vix. Lanie says Tawny “hates” Vix because Vix gets to leave New Mexico. Nathan gives Vix his raccoon puppet, Orlando, so he can experience the Vineyard. Nathan’s dream is to go to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Abby and Lamb marry in Boston over Easter 1978, and when Caitlin and Vix return to the house for summer 1978, they discover Abby redecorated it—big windows, French doors, skylights, and so on. Caitlin wrecks her room, and Vix becomes the only person in the house she doesn’t “hate.”

Caitlin wants to be the first at everything, but Vix gets her period first. They hike two miles into town to buy pads, and Caitlin helps Vix put a pad in her underwear. They run into Trisha, and Caitlin says Lamb should have married her––Trisha doesn’t disagree.

Vix isn’t allowed to hitchhike, but they hitch a ride with Von and Bru, and Vix wonders if the boys noticed her pad. Vix and Caitlin take a bath together, and Caitlin touches Vix’s breasts. They discuss the Power, and Caitlin smiles “slyly.”

Lamb throws Abby a party to celebrate her obtaining her MBA, and Caitlin and Vix must share the bathroom with three teen boys (Sharkey, Daniel, and Gus), who leave the toilet seat up and forget to flush. Gus calls Vix Cough Drop, and Daniel and Gus turn into the Chicago Boys. Caitlin and Vix see the disco film Saturday Night Fever (1977) and pretend to be Disco Queens. They brush their teeth together, and Caitlin sticks her toothbrush halfway down her throat. When Vix does it, she gags. Caitlin claims Vix will be bad at oral sex. She’s seen Phoebe performing oral sex, but Vix has never seen her parents have sex—though she once saw her father flirt with another woman.

Lamb gives Caitlin his credit card, and Caitlin and Vix go shopping for Vix’s birthday. They get matching sundresses and strapless bras. They play mini golf where Bru works. Vix wants to touch his brown hair, but he doesn’t remember the girls—they “look different.” Bru asks what color balls they want, and the girls laugh loudly. Caitlin thinks Bru and Von will fall in love with her, but if she had to pick one, it’d be Von. Vix wants Bru. As the girls don’t “feel right” about using the Power together, they bury Cassandra and Vixen on the beach, creating sand sculptures for them.

Caitlin shows Vix a photo of her grandparents—Lamb’s parents. Driving while drunk, they died in a car crash on the Vineyard when Lamb and his sister, Dorset, were babies, so his grandmother, Regina Mayhew Somers, raised them. Caitlin claims her great-grandma is a “real bitch” and gets plastic surgery as frequently as people have their teeth cleaned. Her name is in the house’s “hottest books,” and she had an affair with her financial adviser. Dorset wants her to die. When the grandma arrives, she marvels at what “the Jew” did to her former home.

Vix and Dorset run errands together, and Von, now working at the fish market, gives Vix a fish head for Caitlin. Dorset worries Caitlin and Vix are out of their depth, and, laughing, Caitlin and Vix feed the fish head to the birds.

Sharkey’s full name is Lambert Mayhew Somers the Fourth, but his family wanted to call him Bertie; however, as a child, he was obsessed with sharks, so he became Sharkey. When Steven Spielberg filmed his summer blockbuster Jaws (1975) on the Vineyard, Lamb took Sharkey to meet Spielberg, but Sharkey cared more about the mechanical shark. When Sharkey saw the movie, he “freaked out,” and now he won’t swim. Vix’s parents wouldn’t let her see Jaws. To show Vix what a shark bite feels like, Caitlin jumps on her bed and bites her butt.

During lunch, Grandmother Somers scolds Sharkey over his posture and makes antisemitic remarks. Dorset says Grandmother Somers is “testing” Abby, and Dorset has sexual thoughts about Von (“fishboy”) and considers excusing herself to use her vibrator. Sharkey has sexual thoughts about Dorset and Vix.

After her grandma and Dorset leave, Caitlin excoriates Grandmother Somers and her dad for not standing up to her. Lamb sends Caitlin to her room, and Caitlin tells Vix that Lamb won’t censure his grandma because she has money and tons of power.

Vix dreams of wealth and being Mother Teresa. With the former, she could take care of Nathan and her parents. If she turns into the latter, she doesn’t have to fret over money: She has God. She also wouldn’t have to worry about her big breasts—her habit would hide them.

For the 1979 summer, Caitlin and Vix return to the Vineyard. Nathan also gets to go away, to a Colorado camp for young people with physical conditions. In New Mexico, Vix learned how to swim, and she shows Caitlin her new skills at the Vineyard.

In the pond, Gus grabs her foot and scares her. In response, the girls “raid” Gus and Daniel’s room. They find a jockstrap and a Victoria’s Secret catalog. Vix thinks all the Chicago Boys care about is sex. Caitlin thinks they should masturbate to a “real woman” and tapes a photo of the artist Georgia O’Keeffe to the boys’ bunk beds.

While they are in line to see Alien (1979), a group of young people with physical conditions go by, and Daniel and Gus mock them. Vix upbraids them, and so does Caitlin. Gus says Daniel has his “own problems”—his dad is remarrying. Gus asks Vix if her parents are still together. Vix says that not all parents divorce and every problem doesn’t stem from parents. Gus kisses Vix’s cheek and says he’s sorry for his ableism. Later, Gus and Daniel give Vix a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle, and Vix wins $20 when she completes it in a week.

Caitlin and Vix remind Abby of her wish to have daughters, and Vix fantasizes about having Abby as a mom, but Caitlin quips that they both already have moms. Caitlin’s mom sends her and Sharkey one card per summer, leading Vix to believe that kids don’t always get the right parents; conversely, parents don’t always receive the right kids.

Lamb is friends with the Countess, and the Countess and Tawny arrive at the island. Abby calls Tawny the Countess’s “amanuensis,” and Vix thinks the word sounds “sexual.” The Countess is popular, and she tells stories about running away to become a part of the circus at 16, being in Paris at 18, and meeting the Count in a broken elevator.

Abby offers Vix a scholarship to Mountain Day. She asks Vix about college—no one in Vix’s family has gone to college. Vix starts to sweat. She feels a foreign “wetness” and a dislike for her unpredictable body.

Getting time off, Tawny and Vix hang out at Gay Head. Tawny notes the Vineyard’s “magic” traits, and as she drinks a beer, she admits she always wanted to travel. She’s jealous of Vix’s “freedom” and attracted to Lamb. She remembers she’s a woman with “desires.”

The Countess calls Tawny her “savior” and Tawny’s family a “burden.” She can’t fathom why people have children—they should have dogs instead. The Countess calls Lamb “Dear Boy,” and he calls her Charlotte. The Countess coughs intensely, and Vix thinks she’s on the verge of death, but her mom calmly gives her medicine, and the Countess laughs.

When Lamb was four or five, he walked into the bathroom, and the Countess (his mom’s best friend, and in her 20s then) was in the bath. She invited him in, gave him wine, and let him touch her breasts.

Caitlin tells Vix she has “another life” at Mountain Day, and Vix notices she acts like a different person. A kidney infection keeps Vix in bed. Caitlin visits and says she’d never hurt Vix. Her school friends mean nothing compared to her. The Countess sends flowers, and Nathan offers Orlando. Back from the camp, Nathan acts tougher. He wants independence.

In the summer of 1980, Vix and Caitlin return to the Vineyard—though Vix thinks Caitlin only invited her because she felt guilt over her sickness. Vix insists they get jobs, and they babysit the kid of famous TV actors Tim Castellano and Loren D’Aubergine. Tim stares at Caitlin, and Vix hopes Caitlin doesn’t do something “foolish.” Last summer, Caitlin removed her bikini top on a boat. She wanted people to notice—she feels invisible.

After Tim and Caitlin swim together, Vix stares at his crotch. Tim notices and smiles. Von and Bru recognize Tim as a cop on TV. In his car, Tim tells Caitlin and Vix to stay away from them and guys who are led by their “pointers.” Vix wonders how Tawny would react if People covered Tim’s “thing” for 15-year-old girls. Sensing danger, Vix breaks out of the car, freeing herself and Caitlin, but Caitlin chases after Tim. She kisses him and thinks he’d be a “good” candidate for her “first time.” Vix wonders if Caitlin is “completely crazy.”

Abby discovers that Caitlin and Vix hitchhike, and she yells at Lamb for not giving them discipline and guidance. Daniel blames the fight on Caitlin and grabs her. Sharkey defends his sister and takes her and Vix for pizza, where she witnesses Bru breaking up with an older girl with red hair.