Same Time Next Summer

Wyatt Pope is a primary character. Chapter 60 is written from his first-person point of view, while the third-person narrator inhabits his consciousness in the past-tense chapters titled with his first name. In the narrative present, Wyatt is 31 years old. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he works part time fixing cars at a gas station and devotes the rest of his time to his music career. Wyatt has played the guitar since he was a teenager and has used music to express himself and to feel balanced and centered. He pursues a career in music, because he isn’t academic by nature and prefers more artistic modes of communication and expression.

Wyatt’s parents are Frank and Marion Pope, and his older brother is Michael Pope. Throughout Wyatt’s childhood, he had a difficult home life. His parents were often fighting, and Michael grew increasingly distant over the years. These family dynamics often left Wyatt feeling abandoned and alone. For this reason, he became reliant on his friendship and relationship with Sam. They not only fell in love when Wyatt was a teenager, but were fixtures in each other’s lives since they were kids. With Sam, Wyatt learned how to be himself. She also made him realize how happy loving someone could make him feel. He felt safe, seen, and understood with Sam and was therefore angry with himself when he let his internal upset ruin their relationship.

In the narrative present, Wyatt is a centered, empathetic, and easy-going individual. When Sam first sees him again in Chapter 11, she’s surprised by how Wyatt has grown up. In her mind, Wyatt is still 17, “sitting by [her] on the beach waiting for waves” (60). In reality, he’s an adult “with [a] more defined jawline and [a] filled-in frame” (60). The more time she spends with him, the more she realizes that Wyatt has also changed in emotional ways. He not only has a successful career but is calmer and more balanced. Wyatt’s adult experiences have indeed taught him how to sort through his emotions and to relate to others in healthier ways. What hasn’t changed are Wyatt’s feelings for Sam. He is not only supportive of her, but encourages her to be herself. The consistency of his love helps Sam remember who she is and to discover what she wants and needs.

Bill and Laurel Holloway are secondary characters. They are Sam’s, Travis’s, and Gracie’s parents. From September to May, Bill and Laurel live “in the same Lower East Side two-bedroom, rent-controlled apartment” where Sam, Travis, and Gracie grew up (6). They are both university professors and have a more orderly life in the city during the school year. In the summer, Bill and Laurel travel to their Oak Shore beach house on Long Island. In this realm, Bill and Laurel are more free-spirited and artistic. When Sam first returns to Long Island to see them, she feels embarrassed by their messes and unplanned way of living, fearing that Jack won’t approve. Over time, she comes to appreciate these facets of her parents again. She also learns how to reconnect with them emotionally and ends up going to them for advice about her relationships with Jack and Wyatt. They act as her guides throughout the narrative. They don’t force their opinions on Sam, but they do help her to rediscover her true self and to be honest with what she wants and about who she is.

Gracie Holloway is a secondary character. She is Sam and Travis’s younger sister and Bill and Laurel’s youngest child. Gracie was born when Sam was 17. Laurel got pregnant not long after Bill had an affair with Wyatt’s mom. Bill and Laurel began couple’s counseling thereafter, which helped them repair their relationship. Gracie was therefore a result of their reconciliation. Gracie also helped Sam heal from her heartbreak over losing Wyatt. In the weeks after Gracie’s birth, Sam started “jumping in to help with Gracie whenever she could” (149). Caring for Gracie helped Sam “feel like she was connected to something permanent” (149) and in turn encouraged her to move beyond Wyatt and her disappointment.

In the narrative present, Gracie is 12 years old. She and Sam still have a close connection, but Sam has let their relationship lapse in an attempt to distance herself from her family and past. When she returns to Long Island, Sam begins to realize how much she misses her sister and regrets not investing more in her. Gracie’s character helps Sam reconnect with an essential part of herself.

Jack is a secondary character. He is Sam’s fiancé. His parents are Donna and Glen. When Sam and Jack meet by chance in a cab, Sam is immediately convinced that Jack is the ideal man for her. He’s not only a handsome and accomplished doctor, but he’s orderly, neat, and predictable. He is focused, driven, and disciplined: “His body is the result of a specific gym regimen engineered for ultimate fitness. His hair is parted and combed to hang at an exact spot on his neck, cut every three weeks” (81). Jack is therefore the antithesis of Wyatt. His predictability makes Sam feel safe and secure. At the same time, Jack doesn’t really know Sam. She therefore uses him to hide from her true self and her past life. Over the course of the novel, she begins to realize that their dynamic isn’t as idyllic as she once thought and that their relationship isn’t sustainable. She ends their engagement in Part 2 as a way to liberate and rediscover herself. Throughout the novel, Jack’s character is a narrative device used to create tension between competing versions of Sam’s character and life. He isn’t a traditional antagonist because he isn’t nefarious or wicked. However, he does fail to see and support Sam in the way she needs.

Travis Holloway is a minor character. He is Sam and Gracie’s older brother and Bill and Holloway’s eldest child. In the narrative present, Travis lives on Long Island with his partner Hugh. He participates in the family gatherings throughout Sam’s visit in the narrative present. His character also appears tangentially in the past-tense portions of the novel. Over the course of Sam’s narrative, she gradually begins to repair her relationship with Travis. They never had a falling out, but Sam pulled away from him when she distanced herself from her family. When she starts spending more time on Long Island again, she remembers how close she and Travis used to be and understands that her brother still loves and supports her.