Book Summary and Reviews of Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland

Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland

Last Summer at the Golden Hotel

by Elyssa Friedland

  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Published:
  • May 2021, 384 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. Many characters in the novel are struggling with feelings of aimlessness or a lack of direction. What do you think is at the core of these feelings for each of them? Is there a character who deals with these feelings better than the others? Does anyone deal with these feelings particularly badly?
  2. At many points during the novel, children learn that their parents are imperfect humans. Do you think the generations are sufficiently forgiving of one another? Are they able to learn from one another's mistakes, or are they stuck thinking about their differences?
  3. The secrets uncovered during the novel often structure the characters' lives before they know about them. Have you ever learned something about your own life that you ...
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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Written with Friedland's signature wit and sharp dialogue, Last Summer at the Golden Hotel is an incisive novel that touches on family legacies, nostalgia, and multigenerational dynamics. Readers not content with armchair immersion will want to book their Catskill getaway immediately." —Booklist

"The vanished history of the Catskills is evoked with love and plenty of schmaltz. A high-spirited party of a book. BYOB: Bring your own borscht." —Kirkus Reviews

"Friedland brings laughs and nuance to the family foibles, and demonstrates a wide range in her convincing narration from the many points of view. Breezy and charming, this is great fun." —Publishers Weekly

"In The Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, Elyssa Friedland creates a broad cast of characters who are at once touching and hilarious. Their fears, their secrets, and their dreams come together in a moving story that balances nostalgia for the past and hope for the future. A perfect book for a family book club." —Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of The Light We Lost

"Long known for her humor and wit, Elyssa Friedland has penned a charmer of a novel in Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, a story about two families who own a resort in the Catskills, which was a crown jewel in its heyday but is now in decline.  Fans of Mrs. Maisel and Dirty Dancing will revel in the nostalgia of a bygone era and the richness of this intergenerational tale, which manages to be smart, funny, honest and poignant all at the same time." —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman with the Blue Star

This information about Last Summer at the Golden Hotel was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Elyssa Friedland

Elyssa Friedland is the acclaimed author of Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, The Floating Feldmans, The Intermission and Love and Miss Communication. Elyssa is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School and currently teaches novel writing at Yale. She lives with her husband and three children in New York City, the best place on earth.

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