The Guest Book Summary
Sarah Blake

The Guest Book Overview

Sarah Blake’s novel, The Guest Book, follows three generations of the powerful and affluent Milton family, as the course of history slowly erodes its ivory towers. The work begins with a glimpse into the privileged life of Kitty and Ogden Milton, who capriciously purchase an island off the coast of Maine to showcase the culmination of their success and good fortune. While Crockett’s Island begins as a declaration of power of the American Dream, it also becomes symbolic of the exclusionary nature of that Dream. As the Island’s history is slowly exposed to the successive generations, it becomes clear that the Milton’s privilege was attained at great cost. As each generation peels back layers of family history, the book delves into themes of legacy, deception, prejudice, and the ultimate cost of silence.