The Summer Guests

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

The Summer Guests uses a motif of birds to represent the specific geography and environment where the novel is set: small-town Maine. The importance of birds is further emphasized in the surname of the protagonist herself, Maggie Bird. The Martini Club, and especially Maggie, have taken up the pastime of birdwatching, representing their close observation of their new environment but also how they have changed as they have aged. 

When the Martini Club first appears in this novel, they are birdwatching. They have gathered to discuss The Genius of Birds, a 2016 book by science writer Jennifer Ackerman that covers birds’ astonishing intelligence. Birdwatching is a pastime that requires patience, close observational skills, and binoculars. These are all tools that the Martini Club will use to solve the mystery of Zoe’s disappearance and the identity of the bones in the pond. Indeed, the hobby and the investigation often propel one another forward. For instance, Declan locates Zoe’s goggles hanging from a tree while listening for birds: “I thought I heard an eastern towhee singing up there. I looked up, and instead of a bird, I saw that [the goggles] dangling on the branch” (198).