Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann begins at the end of WWII. It is the story of cousins Nick and Helena, their husbands Hughes and Avery, their children Daisy and Ed, and their summer home on Martha's Vineyard, Tiger House. Each character is given a turn to tell their story, and we soon discover that all is not well in this post-war world. Nick and Hughes are reunited in Florida, but this distant and silent Hughes is not the same man Nick married. Desperate for love after the death of her first husband, Helena marries Avery who promises her a glamorous life in Hollywood. (Sorry, spoiler alert!) He's a creep and a liar. Soon Daisy and Ed come along, and the next 20 plus years are filled with summers on the Island in tennis whites and dinner jackets, gin and tonics and lemonade. It sounds idyllic, but nasty undercurrents lurk just beneath the calm waters.
From the title to the last page,
Tigers in Red Weather is all about atmosphere. Not just the physical atmosphere of each setting, but the emotional storms her characters survived, or did they?! Part F. Scott, part Alfred Hitchcock, I felt an uneasy langour while reading this book. Considering that Liza Klaussmann is the great-great-great -granddaughter of Herman Melville, she had rather large shoes to fill. With
Tigers in Red Weather I think she has succeeded.
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