Author: Robyn Carr
Publisher: Mira Books
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: Little Bird Publicity
Goodreads: Mothers and daughters, sisters and cousins–they lived for summers at the lake house until a tragic accident changed everything. The Summer That Made Us is an unforgettable story about a family learning to accept the past, to forgive and to love each other again.
That was then…
For the Hempsteads, two sisters who married two brothers and had three daughters each, summers were idyllic. The women would escape the city the moment school was out to gather at the family house on Lake Waseka. The lake was a magical place, a haven where they were happy and carefree. All of their problems drifted away as the days passed in sun-dappled contentment. Until the summer that changed everything.
This is now…
After an accidental drowning turned the lake house into a site of tragedy and grief, it was closed up. For good. Torn apart, none of the Hempstead women speak of what happened that summer, and relationships between them are uneasy at best to hurtful at worst. But in the face of new challenges, one woman is determined to draw her family together again, and the only way that can happen is to return to the lake and face the truth.
Robyn Carr has crafted a beautifully woven story about the complexities of family dynamics and the value of strong female relationships.
Ope’s Opinion: This did not feel like most of Robyn Carr’s books. It was a deeper, heavier read then she usually writes. There were a lot of issues addressed in this book. It was a little on the depressing side.
The story was told from several peoples point of views, so that help to see the whole picture and understand the relationships. There were a lot of “flashbacks” – views into things that brought the characters were they are now. I enjoyed the present story of sisters coming back to the lake house better then the past story line.
The ending brought everything to a satisfying conclusion.
