The Summer Book

Sophia receives a postcard depicting a beautiful scene in Venice, and Grandmother explains that Venice is slowing sinking into the sea because of its location. Having been to Venice before, Grandmother describes it for Sophia, who enjoys hearing about the musty canals filled with golden dinner plate people had thrown out. They make up a family who lives in Venice, and the fictional Venice has sunk enough that homes are filled with water.

Sophia asks for Grandmother to call her “Dear Child” and Sophia will refer to Grandmother as “Mama.” Grandmother will not pretend to be Sophia’s mother, instead suggesting they pretend to build a new Venice, which they construct in the marsh. Again, Sophia refers to Grandmother as “Mama,” which concerns Grandmother.

Grandmother carves a building from driftwood and says there is a family living in it. They add it to Venice, and Grandmother carves more buildings. She is able to remember the details of the city, and she becomes engrossed in the work. That night, a storm blows in, and Grandmother wakes in the middle of the night and worries about Sophia and Venice. In the morning, she goes outside to walk down to the marsh, and Sophia comes running to her, screaming that Venice has sunk.

Grandmother sends Sophia back to bed and promises that she will find the palace the family lived in. She finds a piece of driftwood and carves a new rendering of Doge’s Palace, rubbing it with ash to make it look like the original version. Sophia listens for the family and says that they are tired and cleaning up the mess from the storm.

On a particularly calm day, Grandmother, Sophia, and Father take a small boat to the distant island of Cairn. They set out an air mattress for Grandmother to relax on, and Father goes to set out fishing nets while Sophia explores the island. Once they leave, Grandmother arranges clothes on the mattress so that it looks like she is resting, then walks to a canyon by the shore. She hides herself in the canyon, and Sophia finds her just as she is lighting a cigarette. They sit together in the canyon eating bread, and Sophia complains that she gets bored when things are calm.

As she speaks, Sophia repeatedly uses the word “bloody,” which reminds Grandmother of the time she found a dead pig and boiled it for a week so Father could take the skeleton to school when he was a child. Sophia is confused and says her father is big, and Grandmother changes the subject to her sneaking away from the mattress. Bored, Sophia wants to leave and says Grandmother can come with her if she will listen to Sophia; however, Sophia asks Grandmother if the spot she chooses to go swimming is okay with Grandmother.

Putting her feet into the water, Grandmother talks about her husband and how he only went fishing during storms. Sophia asks who Grandmother is talking about and is astonished that Grandmother is married. Grandmother suggests Sophia ask Father about “generations,” but Sophia says she is too busy.

Sophia climbs the channel marker, but Grandmother does not notice until Sophia is almost to the top. She suppresses her own fears and encourages Sophia so that she does not startle her. Once Sophia makes it to the top, Grandmother calls for her to come back down and help get her walking stick, which she has dropped into a pool of water. Grandmother is frustrated with Sophia but understands that she climbed the channel marker because she was bored. When Sophia reaches the ground, Grandmother calls Sophia brave and asks if she should tell Father. Sophia says not now but that Grandmother should tell Father while on her death bed, “so it doesn’t go to waste” (51).

Sophia takes in a young gray kitten—Moppy—and nurses it until it grows up, flees from Sophia’s aggressive affection, and starts sleeping under Grandmother’s bed in a box of dirty dishes. Sophia notes that the more you love someone, the less that they like you, but she says that you must keep loving them. She keeps trying to win his affection by spending time with him and giving him interesting things to do, and she thinks she is starting to hate Moppy.

Sophia starts having nightmares, and Moppy starts hunting and brings back a dead bird, after which Sophia does not talk to him for three days. He continues bringing dead animals, and Grandmother throws them out. Eventually, he gives up, and Grandmother finds skeletons under the veranda. Sophia refuses to forgive Moppy and says she wishes that she—Sophia—had never been born. Moppy, who has turned feral, spends most of his time outside and away from the house.

Family friends, the Övergårds, visit and bring with them a sweet white cat, Fluff, to exchange for Moppy, who they want to use as a mouser. Fluff loves affection, and she is quiet and lazy. When Fluff tries to lay in a patch of sun, Sophia yells at her because it was Moppy’s spot. The summer is calm, and Sophia complains that nice weather is boring.

A storm rolls in one night, and Sophia wakes up Fluff, but Fluff wants to keep sleeping. Angry, Sophia throws the cat outside into the storm and yells at her to hunt. Sophia runs crying to Grandmother and asks for Moppy back because she loves him, and they trade cats with the Övergårds again.

On a nearby island is a dense patch of forest that meets the thick grass growing closer to the beach. Using shears, Sophia cuts a path through the trees and around a large rugosa rose bush. The bush periodically dies from sea water, but its shoots survive to form new bushes. Further into the jungle is a small cave: “The cave is narrow and smells of rot, the walls are black and damp, and at the far end, there is a natural altar covered with green moss as fine and dense as plush” (59). Sophia takes Grandmother to the island, and they crawl along Sophia’s path. On their way back to the cave, Grandmother vomits, and Sophia asks if she took her Lupatro. They nap, then crawl the rest of the way to the cave.

Grandmother cannot fit in the cave, so Sophia describes it to her and says that God lives in a box at the back of the cave. Peeking inside the cave, Grandmother sees edible mushrooms and has Sophia pick them. Grandmother gives her empty Lupatro box to Sophia to place on the altar, then they return to the rose bush and dig up a shoot to plant at home.

While walking back to the boat, they find a cap and use it, instead of Grandmother’s hat, to carry the mushrooms. Sophia remarks that everything turns out fine and asks Grandmother what else she would like. Grandmother wants something to drink, and Sophia finds an unopened bottle of lemonade that has washed up on the beach. Sophia offers to find Grandmother a new watering can, but Grandmother likes the one she has and does not want to “press their luck” with things turning out in their favor (62).