With lots of laughs, as well as a few tears, Elyssa Friedland’s Last Summer at the Golden Hotel is a family drama that is full of heart, on every single page. Perfect for anyone with nostalgia either for the movie Dirty Dancing, or for the place and time of its setting, The Catskills in the 1960s, this novel tells an engaging story of family, friends, business, progress, change, tradition, secrets, and so much more.
Two life-long best friends, Amos Weingold and Benny Goldman, opened The Golden Hotel in the Catskill Mountains of New York in 1960, during a time when Jewish families throughout the area flocked to that region for vacations and holidays. Amos and Benny married very different types of women, but the wives got along, and eventually both the Weingolds and the Goldmans had children. The Weingolds had twin sons, Peter and Brian, and the Goldmans had a daughter, Aimee.
Times have changed since the 1960s and now The Golden Hotel is the only one of its kind left in the Catskill area. From the days when dozens of hotels and resorts filled the region, all the others have been sold, torn down, or changed into other businesses. The Golden is still around, but it is a long way away from its heyday. Brian Weingold is running the hotel, Benny Goldman has passed away, and neither Peter or Aimee, their spouses, or children are particularly involved with the hotel.
Brian has received a lucrative offer from a company that wants to purchase the Golden, and now everyone from both families is coming back to the property to have a meeting about whether or not to sell, as both families are equal co-owners. Over the years they have been less and less involved with each other, and now coming back together they all bring their individual issues, concerns, and secrets.
Each person has their own reasons they want to sell, or not, but returning to the hotel itself and being flooded with memories, while also seeing its current state, may change some minds one way or the other. Emotions can easily get stirred up in such a situation.
Friedland has a flair for taking the reader back and forth between multiple characters so we can see and know the “why” behind each person’s thoughts and decisions. Her ability to so thoroughly define each character and make each so distinct is what makes it possible for the reader to keep up with such a large cast of characters and I will admit that I referred back to the included family tree numerous times as I was starting the first few chapters. Once you get to know these characters though, you really know them.
There are a few tears to be shed and many laughs to be had in Last Summer at the Golden Hotel. Fans of Jonathan Tropper, Maria Semple, or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will undoubtedly connect with Friedland’s work!
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of May 18th 2021!
Will you be picking up Last Summer at the Golden Hotel? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A family reunion for the ages when two clans convene for the summer at their beloved getaway in the Catskills–perfect for fans of Dirty Dancing and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel–from the acclaimed author of The Floating Feldmans.
In its heyday, The Golden Hotel was the crown jewel of the hotter-than-hot Catskills vacation scene. For more than sixty years, the Goldman and Weingold families – best friends and business partners – have presided over this glamorous resort which served as a second home for well-heeled guests and celebrities. But the Catskills are not what they used to be – and neither is the relationship between the Goldmans and the Weingolds. As the facilities and management begin to fall apart, a tempting offer to sell forces the two families together again to make a heart-wrenching decision. Can they save their beloved Golden or is it too late?
Long-buried secrets emerge, new dramas and financial scandal erupt, and everyone from the traditional grandparents to the millennial grandchildren wants a say in the hotel’s future. Business and pleasure clash in this fast-paced, hilarious, nostalgia-filled story, where the hotel owners rediscover the magic of a bygone era of nonstop fun even as they grapple with what may be their last resort.
