On a sunny summer day, I set out for a stroll around Copley Square and decide to step into the Fairmont Copley Plaza, a hotel with a beautiful corridor adorned with mosaic floors of timeless elegance. Its café-restaurant invites you to sit down and read, with tea served in a delicate cup… pure elegance.
Nearby, a walk through Boston Common is pleasant and full of life. There, I come across a very charming sculpture called Make Way for Ducklings, which depicts a family of ducklings crossing the park… it inevitably reminds me of the ducks at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. There are also plaques and monuments that evoke key moments in American history, such as the independence that began to take shape in this very city.
From the park, you can see the Massachusetts State House, its golden dome shining in the sunlight. Behind it lies the neighborhood of Beacon Hill, one of the most picturesque areas in Boston, with its beautiful Victorian houses that in spring are decorated with an abundance of flowers and hanging baskets. Its most famous street is the cobblestoned Acorn Street, probably one of the most photographed in the United States.
This neighborhood gives its name to the lovely bookstore-café Beacon Hill Books & Cafe. Three floors of books in such a charming setting… the walls painted in a soft, almost storybook blue. The third floor, dedicated to children, even features a small train that runs along the top of the walls. The café, with its water jugs, fireplace, and a small patio where you can get some fresh air while having breakfast, invites you to stay much longer than planned.
On the other side of the park is Brattle Book Shop, one of the oldest bookstores in the United States. Its exterior is picturesque, marked by a large yellow pencil. In the side alley, shelves of books are displayed outdoors—perfect for browsing and discovering a hidden treasure.
On one of the city’s main shopping streets, Newbury Street, you’ll find Trident Booksellers & Cafe. Yes, another place to discover literary gems, paired with a café serving full breakfasts: scrambled tofu, toast, and a hot chocolate that makes the perfect companion to a good book.
In the North Square stands the Paul Revere House, part of the city’s historic route marked by the famous red line of the Freedom Trail. Built in 1680, it is the only remaining example of 17th-century architecture in downtown Boston. Paul Revere, a silversmith by trade, bought it in 1770 (not 1800) and moved in with his family. He is known for his famous “midnight ride” in 1775, when he rode through the city warning of the arrival of British troops with the cry, “The British are coming!”, becoming a key figure in the early days of the American Revolution.
The neighborhood is North End, Boston’s Little Italy and the oldest part of the city, where the first colonists settled. There you’ll also find the Old North Church, an Episcopal church built in 1723 and the oldest still standing in Boston. From its steeple, the famous lantern signals were lit to warn of the British advance.
On my way back, I pass by I AM Books, a bookstore that offers a great selection both inside and outside. That’s summer in Boston: books everywhere.
Along Commonwealth Avenue Mall, you’ll find several statues commemorating important figures and moments in the city’s history. Among them are Abigail Adams, wife of the second president and his closest advisor; Phillis Wheatley, the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry—her name came from the ship that brought her, and her surname from the family who bought and educated her; and Lucy Stone, a renowned orator, abolitionist, and key figure in the women’s suffrage movement.
LITERARY NOTE
And on this walk, we are accompanied by Summer, by Edith Wharton, a writer who, although born in New York, maintained a close connection with Massachusetts. It was in the serene region of The Berkshires that she found refuge and created some of her works, surrounded by gentle hills and unhurried summers that also resonate throughout this novel.
In Summer, we follow Charity Royall, a young woman from a small New England town whose life changes with the arrival of a stranger. Over the course of an intense summer, a story unfolds of awakening, desire, and choices that shape her passage into adulthood. Like Boston, its pages blend history with quiet emotion, tradition with change.
And perhaps it is that very feeling—a summer suspended in time—that lingers as you walk through the city: a quiet andunderstated beauty.
