Tourist Season by Enid Shomer: Complete Book Guide

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Quick Facts

Short Summary

Tourist Season gathers ten stories—plus a reader’s guide and author interview—that follow women at various ages confronting unexpected transformations. A Miami speech therapist is declared a reincarnated Buddhist saint; a young woman commits robbery and arson; a mother on the run grapples with the secret of her adopted daughter’s kidnapping; a retired WASP pilot faces the end of her marriage; a fifty-two-year-old vanishes during a scuba dive; and a wife physically de-ages into something wild. Through travel, crime, magic realism, and raw honesty, each character becomes a tourist in her own life, questioning identity, marriage, aging, and the cost of hidden truths.

Full Summary

The collection opens with “Chosen,” where Iris Hornstein, a Miami speech therapist, is visited by two Tibetan monks who identify her as the reincarnation of Saint Amar-jampa. Skeptical yet curious, Iris travels to Tibet with her husband Aaron. After months of cryptic training, she meets the Dalai Lama and agrees to serve as a cultural bridge. Back in Florida, she returns to work while the monks adapt to American life as her assistants.

“The Other Mother” follows Sheila, who has been on the run since her ex-husband Win kidnapped their adopted daughter Royal from an airport restroom. Through flashbacks, we learn that the adoption was actually a kidnapping—Royal was taken from her biological mother. Sheila now lives in hiding, tormented by guilt and the fear that the truth will destroy her family. She considers returning to Mobile to protect Royal.

“Fill In the Blank” introduces Garland McKenney, a risk-hungry young woman who, with her roommate Linda, robs a physical-therapy office. Linda confesses, and both receive probation. Garland, unable to feel genuine remorse, struggles with the personality test’s final question about what makes a good life. The robbery fractures her friendship and sets her on a path of continued rule-breaking.

“Tourist Season” centers on Frieda, a retired WASP pilot who feels stifled by her husband Milt. She volunteers at a hospital and helps neighbor Irv Snyder, who has memory lapses. On a bus trip to St. Augustine, Irv takes Polaroid photos—later revealed to be explicit images of his wife Belle, taken to please her impotent husband. The discovery forces Frieda and Milt to confront their own marriage, lost purpose, and aging. They begin to find a new understanding.

In “Rapture,” Janet, a 52-year-old with panic disorder, goes scuba diving in the Cayman Trench on a final vacation before divorce. Separated from her buddy, she descends alone into euphoric disorientation. A search fails to find her. The dive operator explains that her Klonopin intensified with depth, causing insentience. The story ends with an image of Janet on the trench floor, her life rearranged into rapturous patterns.

“The Hottest Spot on Earth” follows Jill Simons and Dr. Patricia Warde, who clash over academic condescension at a slash-fiction writers’ convention in Las Vegas. A field trip to the Nevada Nuclear Test Site ends with them arrested alongside protesters. In jail, they argue and bond. The chapter hints at their future collaborative work.

In “Sweethearts,” a sequel to “Fill In the Blank,” Garland navigates the Sweetheart River to reach Sheriff Clarence Coffey’s fish camp. Flashbacks reveal their affair. When Clarence brings another woman for a threesome, Garland feels betrayed, grabs his revolver, forces them out, and sets the camp on fire. She then flees Sweetheart after her dog is poisoned, leaving a note for the housekeeper Carlene.

“Crash Course” follows Abby Presner, who crashes her friend’s car into a drug dealer’s Lincoln in Brooklyn. The young dealer forces her into his car, brags about his criminal life, and gives her his pager number with the code 666. Abby later experiences delayed terror and drinks heavily. She keeps the number for months before discarding it, troubled by her empathy and its limits.

“The Summer of Questions” is set in 1966. Twenty-year-old Riva Stern works as an assistant bookkeeper at the H.G. Withers Company. She discovers her cousin David Goldring works there, igniting resentment. Despite this, they begin a secret romance. David reveals that Riva’s father stole company funds to fuel a gambling addiction, shattering Riva’s family image. The summer ends with David growing distant and Riva suspecting he is involved with senior bookkeeper Alma.

“Laws of Nature” closes the stories. Helen wakes feeling unusually rested and notices she is de-aging. Her hair darkens, skin firms, and waist slims. At a family visit, her daughter-in-law Benita mentions that older women in Mexico transform into animals. Helen’s husband Claude grows uneasy and eventually leaves a letter confessing an affair. On the eve of a trip to Seattle, Helen grows a wolf tail and prepares to leave her human life behind, embracing the transformation as release.

The collection’s final sections—“A Reader’s Guide,” “A Conversation with Enid Shomer,” and “Reading Group Questions and Topics for Discussion”—offer context, craft insights, and prompts for deeper engagement.

Main Characters

• Iris Hornstein – A Miami speech therapist declared the reincarnation of a Buddhist saint; she travels to Tibet and later works as a cultural bridge with two Tibetan monks as assistants.
• Garland McKenney – A young risk-seeker who commits robbery and later arson; she feels no genuine remorse and struggles with her identity.
• Sheila – A mother on the run after her ex-husband kidnaps their adopted daughter; she lives with guilt and the secret of the adoption.
• Frieda – A retired WASP pilot who feels invisible in her marriage; an incident with explicit Polaroids forces her and Milt to face their relationship.
• Janet – A 52-year-old artist with panic disorder who experiences euphoria and death during a scuba dive in the Cayman Trench.
• Helen – A woman who begins to de-age physically and grows a wolf tail, leaving her human life behind after her husband’s infidelity.

Themes

• Identity and Transformation – Characters reinvent themselves through travel, crime, reincarnation, or magical physical change.
• Marriage and Relationships – Marriages are tested by secrets, infidelity, loss of purpose, and time.
• Secrets and Guilt – Buried truths about adoption, crimes, and family history drive characters into exile or confrontation.
• Aging and Invisibility – Older women struggle with being overlooked and losing purpose; some escape through physical de-aging.
• Travel and Tourism as Metaphor – Physical journeys mirror inner voyages; the title suggests everyone is a tourist in their own life.

Symbols

• Polaroid Photographs – In “Tourist Season,” Irv’s explicit Polaroids expose hidden desires and force Frieda and Milt to confront their marriage.
• Fire – Garland sets Clarence’s fish camp on fire as an act of rebellion and cleansing.
• Wolf Tail – Helen grows a wolf tail as she de-ages, symbolizing liberation from human constraints and embrace of instinct.
• Pager Number 666 – The drug dealer’s code haunts Abby, representing her empathy and fear.

Ending Overview

Tourist Season does not have a single narrative ending; each story resolves independently. The collection closes with a Reader’s Guide, an interview with Enid Shomer (in which she discusses inspiration and craft), and discussion questions that invite readers to connect the stories thematically. The final story, “Laws of Nature,” ends with Helen leaving her human life behind, embracing transformation as release.

Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

Common Questions and Answers

1. What is the significance of the Polaroid photographs in “Tourist Season”?
The explicit Polaroids Irv took of his wife Belle expose hidden desires and force Frieda and Milt to confront the state of their own marriage and aging bodies.

2. Why does Garland burn down the fish camp in “Sweethearts”?
Feeling betrayed when her lover Clarence brings another woman for a threesome, Garland grabs his revolver, forces them to leave, and sets the camp on fire as an act of rebellion and cleansing.

3. Is Helen actually de-aging in “Laws of Nature,” or is it metaphorical?
The story can be read either way. The reading group questions in the book ask readers to decide whether the de-aging is literal or a fable about transformation. The author leaves it open to interpretation.

4. What causes Janet’s death in “Rapture”?
Janet had taken Klonazolam (Klonopin), which intensifies with water depth. She descends alone into euphoria and probable insentience; her body is never found.

5. What is the meaning of the pager number 666 in “Crash Course”?
The drug dealer’s pager code 666 is a demonic symbol that haunts Abby. It represents her empathy and fear, and the moral ambiguity of her encounter.

6. How does Sheila’s guilt drive the plot in “The Other Mother”?
Sheila lives with the secret that her adopted daughter was actually kidnapped from her biological mother. The guilt of this lie, compounded by her ex-husband’s actions, forces her into hiding and self-imposed exile.

7. What role does place play in Tourist Season?
Florida is a central setting, but the stories also move to Tibet, New York, Las Vegas, and elsewhere. The reading group questions note that the sense of place is key to Southern fiction and that the collection would be different in another region.

8. What does the title Tourist Season mean?
The title suggests that all characters are tourists in their own lives—temporarily passing through circumstances, relationships, and identities, often without truly belonging.

Explore More

• Character Deep Dives – Iris, Garland, Sheila, Frieda, Janet, and Helen.
• Themes – Full analysis of identity, marriage, secrets, aging, and travel.
• Symbols – Polaroids, fire, wolf tail, and the 666 pager number.
• Ending Explained – Context for the collection’s final sections.
• Questions and Answers – Additional reader queries.
• Quiz – Test your knowledge.
• Essay Prompts – Writing ideas for students and book clubs.