Nora Bridge had what appeared to be the American dream – a devoted husband, two loving daughters, and a quaint beachhouse on Summer Island. Yet one day she turned her back on them all and vanished into thin air. A decade later her youngest daughter Ruby finds herself grappling with the heartbreaking legacy of her mother’s selfishness. Stuck in the spin cycle of financial and emotional debt, Ruby is listless, angry and desperate to make a buck. After Nora, ironically a nationally beloved radio advice show host of “Family First,” becomes the center of a scandal, Ruby decides to make a quick buck by writing a tell-all roast about her absentee mother for a sleazy tabloid. Just when life couldn’t get worse for poor Nora, she wreaks her car in an alcohol-induced haze, rendering herself incapacitated in a wheelchair. Alone and helpless, she’s left to rely on the one person who despises her the most: Ruby.Guilted into taking care of her down-trodden mother at her childhood home in Summer Island, Ruby decides to maximize her quality time with mother dearest by writing her tell-all. But when her anger ebbs and forviness fights its way to the surface, she sruggles with the moral dilemma of cashing in on her mother’s scandal or killing the story and letting her mother back in her heart. Lessons of redemption and second chances are also infused in the two subplots: one a romance between Ruby and Dean, an old boyfriend who she ditched after her mother left, and another involving Dean’s dying brother with only days left to make peace with his broken family. Conveniently they’re all summering on the island and rebuilding their relationships. Brimming with sentiments of forgiveness and unconditional love, the book reads like a lengthy episode of a Lifetime movie under the influence of “Delilah after Dark.” Get out those boxes of Kleenex ladies, this one is a surefired tearjerker.
I listened to this book as an audio book so my experience may be different than other readers'.The first book I ever read by Hannah was Night Road and I absolutely loved it! There was love, there was suspense, and I remember finishing it thinking, "Yes, here is a writer I can enjoy with Jodi Picoult (whom I love!)". So when I saw Summer Island at the library, I didn't hesitate to pick it up. I didn't even read the synopsis. Then I listened to the book.Firstly, the woman who read the book was wonderful. She did the different voices well, (there were probably 10+ voices) and there were voice effects for when someone was on the phone and some others. I found those to be great effects and the reading was great. 5 stars for her.However, I wasn't particularly impressed with the story. I'm not one to predict or look ahead (mentally or physically with a book) in a story, but this one had me predicting the end from the very beginning. Instead of thinking, "Oh no, what will happen next?!?" I was thinking, "Ho hum, will she or won't she, what's their *secret* past, how much longer is on this disk?" If I hadn't known better, I would have thought this book was one of Hannah's earlier novels...when she was still getting her writing rhythm.It just became predictable in the end. Also, I thought the character of Caroline was underplayed and we never heard about what happened with her in the end. I almost found her character to be equally or more interesting than Ruby's.Overall I just wasn't impressed. It was a quick and easy read. Hannah does a great job describing scenes and fleshing out some characters, but the plot was predictable for me and I didn't feel connected enough to the characters in the end. No tears.
What do You think about Summer Island (2010)?
I loved this novel...Hannah knows how to take you on a trip that is unforgettable! She has a way of drawing you into the story as if you are there with them experiencing everything first hand!The characters are real and easy to relate to. Dealing with life issues all of us have faced at one time or another it was easy to identify with what was going on.Love of family and the forgivness of choices made in the past that affected everyone. This is what it's about and I understood what was happening inside the hearts of each person...not a book that you'll be able to put down. As the story progressed, I couldn't read fast enough. I was laughing, crying, shouting, and cheering for these characters.Loved, loved, loved this book.Way to go Kristin...I'm a fan of yours and will keep reading your stories!
—Rhonda Rae Baker
Summer Island is a very touching story about the power of love through healing and forgiveness. It reminds us that each story has three sides and how sometimes we need to look past our own hurt and anger to renew an old relationship.Summer's Island is sold on it being a book about Mother/Daughter relationships but it is so much more. It is truths hidden behind masks; love lost yet still yearned for. It is pain from being apart from family; and resentment for losing so much time.Kristen Hannah once again delivers a powerful story that anyone can relate too. Summer's Island is both sad and uplifting having you laugh and cry throughout the whole story and reaching for the phone to call someone you lost contact with when it is over.
—Mandy Sue
mother is estranged from her one daughter and kinda talks to the other - the mother is a famous radio personality who give life advice. a secret from the mothers past is made public and she is feeling depressed drinks and then drives only to get into an accident and breaks her legl. both daughters go to the hospital and the one who has spoken to the mother tells the other sister she needs to take care of mom for a week until she can get back on her feet. this daughter thinks it might be a good idea since she has just signed a contact to write a tell all article about the mother she hates, who abandoned her and her sister when they were younger. as the week goes on they are back at their childhood home on Summer Island where she learns who her mother really is and she also finds her first and only love who is on another close island whith his brother that is dying.
—Donna
