The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home by George Howe Colt

This book has been on my reading list for several years and I am glad I finally got to it. It is a window into a century of the East coast WASP life. This is non-fiction and was a National Book Award Finalist.

The Big House, built by the author’s great-grandfather one hundred years ago on a deserted Cape Cod peninsula, is a local landmark. Colt spends one last August with his wife and two small children at the house. After spending forty-two summers there, the Big House is now up for sale. This is an intimate and poignant history of a house that watched over five weddings, four divorces, three deaths, along with countless anniversaries, birthday parties, etc. The book is both heartwarming and sad, and should be very enjoyable for anyone who holds cherished memories of summer. - Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau