A lifelong New Englander, Bee Burke grew up in Rhode Island. She has a BA in Journalism from the University of Rhode Island with a minor in Russian language. She has worked as a reporter, publicist, graphic designer, account executive, travel and fashion copywriter, and editor. When not writing (or at the day job!) Bee can be found vegetable gardening, taking ballet classes, and going on both short and long trips along the coasts of New England and Quebec. Her favorite places include Beavertail Light in Rhode Island, Tadoussac, Quebec, and Campobello Island. Bee is also bossed around by three cats - two tuxedo boys and a cranky torti girl.
We asked Bee some questions about writing her coming of age comedy The Last Summer Before Whatever Happens Next, her love for young adult fiction, and her take on writing about the past.
What is it about YA that appeals to you?
Claire’s age is what I think of as a “border time.” Just like border towns are a fascinating mix of one place and another, that time between one stage of life and another is a fascinating mix of where one set of freedoms and responsibilities are exchanged for another. Claire’s story begins when she’s left high school as valedictorian, but really knows nothing about life. She’s very accomplished, but also very naïve. She’s old enough to enjoy that summer of freedom, but young enough to not yet be burdened with the responsibilities of adulthood, or even college.
Were there any real-life places or situations that inspired The Last Summer Before Whatever Happens Next? How did these experiences impact your choice to set the novel in Maine?
For me, the story chose the setting. The more I got to know the characters, the more it was clear that they lived in Maine. But little details from life do add color—and the older I get, the more crayons I collect to add color and detail. There are lighter shades, like the way a friend pronounced one word, one time and inspired the diction of Claire's dad, or how reading an anecdote about party crashers in a magazine made me wonder what the opposite would be like. But then there are moments that really stand out, such as:
And when I was about 19, my friend’s mom sent us out to lunch with her credit card and her friend’s 12-year-old daughter. So my friend took us to a posh waterfront restaurant. It was a Monday or Tuesday afternoon…and I wondered what am I even doing here? I am sure I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu and I am sure my friend gave me a hard time about it. She still gives me a hard time! This reflects a similar scene which shows the difference between Claire's world and the Tooheys' world.
When I was blueberry picking in Limerick, Maine around 20 years ago, I overheard two older gentlemen reminiscing about their summer jobs berry picking decades prior. They had such gentle voices and recalled those jobs with such fondness that the thought it just stuck with me. And although I have picked (and eaten) hundreds of pounds of high-bush berries myself, I have never raked for the low-bush berries and I have always wanted to. As I got to know the characters in The Last Summer Before Whatever Happens Next, I decided that Claire's dad met the Tooheys while raking low-bush berries on this uniquely northeastern landscape.
The book is set during the 1980s, was it difficult to write about the past?
Feels like yesterday to me! I live in the house I grew up in and I still have a wall phone—amongst other more modern means of communication. I still have the Gunne Sax dress I wore to a semi-formal dance during my freshman year in high school. It’s not just here somewhere. I know exactly where it is. But I do not know where my car keys are right now.
What do you hope readers take away from your novel?
I hope that my readers have a few laughs and enjoy hanging out with Claire, Pepper, Cheddar, Paul, and Flo as much as I did while I was writing. I was sad when I realized I had to let them to go on without me.
It’s the summer of 1980-something, and valedictorian Claire Hart has nothing to do. Her summers have always been meticulously planned—a class here, educational camp there—so her last summer before college she quickly becomes lost in the possibilities. She can’t believe her luck when she’s swept up in the storied world of the Tooheys, heirs to a plumbing fortune and the richest, quirkiest family in Keech Harbor, Maine. She’s found a perfect summer, full of Toohey hijinks. As she follows the Toohey clan from one party to another, she starts to feel like she belongs somewhere other than in the library with her nose in a book. But perfection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and Claire has to decide whether she wants to live a perfect life—or one that’s perfect for her, whatever that may be.
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