Elyssa Friedland

Elyssa Friedland writes contemporary fiction about families, communities, and the tensions hidden inside familiar traditions. Last Summer at the Golden Hotel brings the Goldman and Weingold families back to the Catskills resort they have owned together for generations. Faced with declining business and an offer to sell, relatives debate the hotel's future while old loyalties and disagreements surface. Berkley published the family comedy in 2021, and Penguin Random House's reader guide highlights its interest in nostalgia, inheritance, hospitality, and changing vacation culture. Friedland, a Yale graduate who studied law at Columbia, also teaches novel writing, and she structures the book around an ensemble rather than a single family viewpoint.