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By: Robyn Carr

KIRKUS Style Review

Growing up, the Hempstead family lake house was the setting of love and joy until tragedy struck and ripped the fabric of their family apart.  Now, twenty-nine years later, the baby of the family calls them all back to reconnect, find out what happened that summer, and try to stitch the pieces back together before it's too late.

The Hempstead sisters did the thing close sisters dream of growing up: they married brothers, they had all daughters, they retreated each summer to the lake house to reconnect and let their six girls run wild in the summer sun.  Everything was beautiful and steady, right up until the unthinkable happened- one of the girls drowned.  Broken, the sisters parted ways to never return.  The daughters, with their family divided by pain, split as well to branch out independent of the steady framework that had supported them. The house sat empty and neglected, falling apart just like the girls until cancer-stricken Megan calls on a favor: one last summer.  Coming back to the place that they held dear then feared after so long challenged each of the girls to face fears long since hidden. Fears of love, abandonment, failure, and loss all come to the surface at the hallowed water.  As the girls give into their guilt and circle the wagons back at the lake house for Meg, the pieces start to fall into place as they rediscover the support they didn't realize they'd lost and heal themselves in the process, showing that, once again, even the perceived weakest often holds the greatest strength.

Even given the serious nature of the book, this title was a lovely tapestry with varied characters.  Though the topic could easily lend itself to sappy and sad, Carr succeeds in keeping the reading quick and joyful.  Unpredictable to the end, The Summer that Made Us is a tale with heart that left me renewed with the spirit of healing and family.

Pub Date: 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7783-3086-8
Page count: 331pp
Publisher: Mira
Review Posted Online: 
Kirkus Reviews Issue: This is fake

Comments

  1. Erin CataldiFebruary 19, 2020 at 9:34 AM

    Fantastic job on this assignment! Your opening and closing draws readers in and makes them want to check out the book. Your summary is also very engaging. This book has piqued my interest! Full points!

    ReplyDelete

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