The Summary

1976. Undergraduate Alice Kenzie runs across PhD candidate Tristan Somers as she exits the university library. An intense romance starts, Alice becomes pregnant, and she gives birth to a baby girl. Then a car accident claims the life of Tristan. Unable to handle it, Alice takes the child to Summer House, the Suffolk house of Tristan's family, abandons her there, and then vanishes.

2018. It has long been said that Olivia Somers' mother and father were both killed in the same tragedy. But everything she ever thought she knew about her mother is put to the test when she discovers a stack of outdated letters in Summer House. Will she be able to locate her and, more importantly, forgive her?

My Review

A novel of historical fiction that alternates between two timelines. The story is told from the viewpoints of two women, Olivia in 2018 and Alice in 1976, and it addresses issues including parenting, second chances, friendship, mental health, and living up to your parents' expectations.

Both the individuals in the story and the way it all fit together were great. The assured observational and descriptive storytelling, coupled with some superb conversational banter, also help to authentically convey the setting and time, which only serves to increase the intrigue and mystery.

It was difficult to relate to them on many levels because they were all very emotional and complex individuals who frequently gave the sense that they were unreliable and very weak.

But I think the plot fell short of satisfying me completely. Although some of Alice's behaviors are still beyond my comprehension, I just believe that they are the actions of genuine people whose motivations we will never entirely grasp.

Although I do expect some tasty surprises, they were simply there. The conclusion came on a bit hastily, and the idea revealed far too much. Consequently, you can probably predict it.

This big book's repetition of similar emotions and worry led me to believe that it needed more thorough editing. Secondly, I wished there had been more character growth and separate writing for the summer cottage.

Overall, this book will pique your interest right away and make you eager to discover the truth, but I only suggest it to readers who like family dramas with a hint of mystery thrown in.

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.