NO PALM TRESS ON CUTTYHUNK

Denning’s autobiographical novel recounts an unforgettable summer on a Cape Cod island.

Geoff and Peter, both 14, plan a three-week vacation on Cuttyhunk Island in the summer of 1959. The boys are on their own. They pitch a tent on the beach and have enough money for food. While Peter explores the island, Geoff becomes more invested in befriending locals. The islanders are typically wary of outsiders but take a shine to Geoff, especially the owner of the general store, who gives the boys cans of Chef Boyardee. Local Diana has a bit of romance with Geoff. The boys appreciate the time away from their fathers; Peter feels his dad ignores him, quite unlike Geoff’s incessantly critical and unsupportive dad. But Geoff’s father shows up on Cuttyhunk, seemingly drunk and demanding his son come home to Connecticut. Geoff, however, has already begun to feel that Cuttyhunk could be his home. Once he finds a job on the island, he debates whether to stay in this peaceful place that he’s fallen in love with. Geoff encounters many curious individuals, but the volatile relationships prove the most engaging. He struggles to win over a vicious, foulmouthed kitchen cook and frequently argues with Peter. Most of his experiences are indelible, like scavenging the beach for useful junk (e.g. a discarded door becomes a table). Other scenes are mundane; in an extended bit, Geoff and Peter buy a lobster for dinner and learn how to eat it properly. Throughout, Denning excels at describing the island’s scenery: “Geoff followed Diana across the road through an opening between tall clumps of oat grass that exposed a panoramic view of the Cuttyhunk harbor and the yacht club pier. The makeshift pier was made from tree limbs stuck in the mud.”

A winsome, nostalgic portrayal of adolescent life.