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There are currently 26 member reviews
for The Book of Summer
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Lea Ann M. (Seattle, WA)
A tale that touched my heart
You may wonder why a book which touched my heart would only rate 4 stars rather than 5. I did like the book very much, but there were times when it seemed a bit repetitious as though "filler" were used to extend the length of the book. That aside, I enjoyed Bess, Cissy and Sarah; their ups and downs, their joys and sorrows. Living in a state as I do where homes literally falling into the ocean is not unheard of. The Book of Summer lends a poignant sense to the home and the people who have loved it down through the years. Through it we get a better look at those both who have lived there through the years and those who have been welcome visitors. While some of the book offers little surprise, other parts amaze us with a sense of scenes we didn't expect. I would call this book just right for a summer read on the beach, or anywhere one might be with the book in your bag or beside your bed.
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Barbara L. (Novato, CA)
Summer time reading
The Book of Summer is a warm, wonderful beach read and more. Reading this story with its lovely setting on Nantucket has already prompted me to book a trip to said Island! Fans of Beatriz Williams will love this book with its historical , generational stories of the women who loved the Cliff House and its inhabitants.
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Susan H. (Mount Kisco, NY)
Love Nantucket!
This is a wonderful story about family, and if you know Nantucket it is particularly interesting and fun! Easy to read, it will be one of this summer's great beach reads!
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Joanne W. (Ossining, NY)
Summers in Sconset
I enjoyed this book for many reasons, mostly because I am familiar with Nantucket and that part of the island. I could easily picture the shingled homes and beautiful summer gardens. The strong female characters and their story lines kept me reading. There were enough twist and turns and historical details to move the story forward. This is definitely a beach read which I would highly recommend.
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Mary S. (Hilton Head Island, SC)
Predictable
I enjoyed this book for its light, entertaining quality. The characters were well described and easily recognizable in real life. I didn't give it a 5 star rating as the story line was a bit dull and the ending was very predictable. It is the type of book I would classify as "chick lit". Good to take on vacation or enjoy on a lazy weekend at home.
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Rebecca H. (Bolton, CT)
The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable
Cliff House, the beloved summer home for three generations of the Young family women, is about to fall into the sea. Erosion is claiming the bluff it stands on in Siasconset, Nantucket Island. Dr. Bess Codman, pregnant and with a crumbling marriage, comes home to convince her mother to move out before the inevitable happens. Cliff House has been home, a place of precious memories, secrets, and solace since her great-grandmother had it built during the Depression years.
As Bess deals with its loss and the ramifications for herself and her mother, the story turns back and forth between the present day and the days of the Second World War, the time of her grandmother, Ruby. Many heartaches and buried family secrets of the past and present are revealed as the novel continues.
Themes of home and homesickness for both time and place, and of family love, secrets, and tragic misunderstandings weave throughout the story. I found the novel a bit hard to get into at first, but it soon hooked me. The characters of Ruby and her family—parents, brother, husband-- are especially well-drawn, and those chapters vividly evoke the era and setting. The tragedies that beset Ruby during wartime are relentless, and her determination to "remain strong" in the face of them makes the book compelling reading. Some of the book's present-day characters are somewhat less compelling, less believable to me, and I found myself getting a bit impatient with them. The conceit of the "Book of Summer," a visitor's book kept at Cliff House for those who stayed there to write in each year, serves to move the narrative forward, however unlikely it seems that people would write such intimate thoughts and feelings in an actual visitor's book in a summer home. In spite of these minor objections, the novel is definitely worth the time spent reading it. An author's note at the back informs us that the book is based upon the "real-life erosion of the Sankaty Bluff in Siasconset--known as Sconset—the easternmost spot on Nantucket Island," the solutions for which are a cause of debate and controversy to the present day.
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CD, WI
Not just a beach read
The cover of this books calls it a "perfect escape," but I think it is more than that. It is set on Nantucket, where Cliff House, which has been the summer home for Bess Codman's family for almost 100 years, is about to slide into the ocean. Bess's mother, Cissy, refuses to believe that the house is doomed, and keeps trying one method after another to save it. There is another storyline that runs through the book, that of Bess's grandmother Ruby and her generation who stayed at the house during the years just before and during World War II. I enjoyed the book and found it much more than just a light summer beach read.
