This Summer Will be Different

Oysters are omnipresent throughout the novel, symbolizing Felix’s attraction to Lucy. PEI is famous for its fresh seafood, and Lucy’s trips to the island involve eating as many oysters as possible. The first time Lucy meets Felix, he works as a shucker at an oyster bar. She is mesmerized by the way he looks shucking the oysters. Felix brings Lucy a plate of oysters on the house, indicating his initial attraction to her. Oysters are a known aphrodisiac, a food thought to increase libido. Lucy notes that Felix “ma[kes] shucking oysters look like foreplay” (11). Shortly afterward, they have sex for the first time.

On Lucy’s subsequent visits to the island, Felix frequently brings over fresh oysters. Even when there is tension in their relationship, he never fails to bring her oysters, mirroring his continued attraction to her. Lucy never gets sick of eating oysters, symbolizing that she reciprocates Felix’s attraction—just as she can’t get enough oysters, she can’t get enough of him.

Even after Lucy and Felix enter a steady relationship, Lucy retains an image of him on the first day they met: “a flash of an oyster knife, fast hands, messy hair” (289). The image of oysters remains inextricably linked to their connection.