Brief synopsis: When Marc (a doctor) takes his daughters and wife on a summer vacation alongside one of his patients (who just happens to be a famous actor), something goes terribly wrong. Months later, the famous actor dies - apparently due to something Marc did. Do these two incidents have a connection? And if so, how will he get away with it?


I wouldn't actually recommend reading the synopsis for Summer House with Swimming Pool anywhere like Amazon or Goodreads, because I feel like it gives away a major spoiler. I'll be totally honest - when I read this book, I had no clue what it was actually about. I had just heard some good things, so I gave it a shot. Granted, I did not enjoy the first novel I read from Koch, Dear Mr. M. But I'm a big fan of second (third, fourth, and fifth chances) when it comes to authors. Sometimes, I'll give authors several chances before completing tossing them to the side completely (see: literally anything I've read by Mary Kubica, but I just keep reading more from here and never loving it). I also plan on reading Herman Koch's The Dinner - then maybe I'll give up on him after that.

Anyways, Summer House has a major plot point that's shared in the official synopsis, so I urge you not to read that before reading the book.

I'm not a fan of Koch's writing style - maybe it has somethings to do with he translation or something. Who knows? But I shouldn't let that deter you from giving the book a try just because I don't like the writing style. The story was interesting enough. The novel starts out at the end of the story, then back tracks to tell what happened, then catches back up.

I was honestly surprised - the ending was one I did not see coming. I was thinking something in a different direction. And the very end didn't seem entirely wrapped up, which is typically a pet peeve of mine.

I just really loathed Marc (the main character) - he was entirely horrible. I don't know - I just wasn't on board with the novel.













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