It has been a long time since a book has made me sob as hard as Summer Island by Kristin Hannah did. I am talking full on sobbing. I was crying so hard I could barely see the pages at the end of the book. The novel was heart breakingly beautiful (Cliche I know, but it truly was). The characters were well written, the plot was well thought out, and the overall feel of how hard life can be was portrayed extremely well.
Nora Bridge walked out on her marriage years ago, leaving behind her daughters. She is now a famous talk show host and has not spoken to her daughter, Ruby, in over a decade. Ruby is a comedienne who is struggling financially, and she uses her mom as the material for most of her jokes. A scandal from Nora’s past becomes exposed, and Ruby is offered to write a tell-all article about her mother, for a large amount of money. Ruby returns to the family’s home on Summer Island, to spend time with her mother, in order to get the article just right. Instead, Ruby becomes faced with many memories of the past, and the realization that her mother is human too, and maybe not the terrible person she believed she was, all these years.
From the beginning of the book, I was not really sure where it was headed. There were more characters than I anticipated and more intricate side stories throughout the novel than I anticipated. Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Every character had a place, and all the side stories helped the plot move along beautifully. I ended up falling in love with each of the characters and was able to feel all of their pain throughout the novel.
I ended up giving this novel 3.5/5 stars. I would have given it 5 stars, but due to some editing mistakes I simply couldn’t. I thought the novel was wonderfully written, but there were a couple of editing mistakes I just could not move past. There was one major one towards the beginning of the book that I could not ignore, because it ended up ruining a moment later on in the book. I loved the plot though and would absolutely not hesitate to recommend the book to anyone. If you like literary fiction or contemporary fiction, I highly recommend this novel.
Lotuskey Poetry 