Katherine Hill Brown — author of “The Summer Girl”

Katherine Hill Brown of Berne has written a coming-of-age novel, “The Summer Girl,” that is more like Anne Frank’s diary than a Nancy Drew mystery although the novel refers to and has elements of each. Her novel tells the story of two girls from different cultures who become fast friends despite prejudice from both of their families. Ruthie Rosenthal, an Orthodox Jew from Brooklyn, spends the summer with her baby brother and grandmother at a run-down, once-grand hotel where Sonia Brooks has been hired as a Shabbos goy to do things like turning lights on and off, which are forbidden to Jews on the Sabbath. The novel is set in a fading resort town, known for its healthful waters. Hill Brown, in this week’s podcast, says the setting is based on Sharon Springs, New York, where she spent much of her girlhood. The novel is set in 1976, when Hill Brown was a girl; she nails the details of the era with an unsentimental eye. Hill Brown was an only child and wondered “what if” she had become friends with one of the Jewish summer visitors. A one-time reporter for The Altamont Enterprise, Hill Brown describes herself as a “plotter” — “I have to know where my novel ends up,” she says — rather than a “pantster,” flying by the seat of her pants as she writes. She’s currently working on another “what if” novel, set in rural Georgia and immersed in the art world. Hill Brown’s advice, especially in the midst of the pandemic when many normal activities have been cut short, is: “Read as much as you can.”

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