Summer Island - Kristin Hannah

Summer Island

By Kristin Hannah

  • Release Date: 2001-03-13
  • Genre: Contemporary Romance
4 Score: 4 (From 1,092 Ratings)

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of The Great Alone returns with a poignant, funny, luminous novel about a mother and daughter—the complex ties that bind them, the past that separates them, and the healing that comes with forgiveness.

“[Kristin] Hannah is superb at delving into the characters' psyches and delineating nuances of feeling.â€â€”Washington Post Book World

Years ago, Nora Bridge walked out on her marriage and left her daughters behind. She has since become a famous radio talk-show host and newspaper columnist beloved for her moral advice. Her youngest daughter, Ruby, is a struggling comedienne who uses her famous mother as fuel for her bitter, cynical humor. When the tabloids unearth a scandalous secret from Nora's past, their estrangement suddenly becomes dramatic: Nora is injured in an accident and a glossy magazine offers Ruby a fortune to write a tell-all about her mother. Under false pretenses, Ruby returns home to take care of the woman she hasn't spoken to for almost a decade.

Nora insists they retreat to Summer Island in the San Juans, to the lovely old house on the water where Ruby grew up, a place filled with childhood memories of love and joy and belonging. There Ruby is also reunited with her first love and his brother. Once, the three of them had been best friends, inseparable. Until the summer that Nora had left and everyone's hearts had been broken. . . .

What began as an expose evolves, as Ruby writes, into an exploration of her family's past. Nora is not the woman Ruby has hated all these years. Witty, wise, and vulnerable, she is desperate to reconcile with her daughter. As the magazine deadline draws near and Ruby finishes what has begun to seem to her an act of brutal betrayal, she is forced to grow up and at last to look at her mother--and herself--through the eyes of a woman. And she must, finally, allow herself to love.

Summer Island is a beautiful novel, funny, tender, sad, and ultimately triumphant.

Reviews

  • Loved this book.

    5
    By Prudence702
    Loved the character’s, story line, everything about this book.
  • Great author’s best seller

    4
    By Optntdr13
    A reader’s favorite
  • One of the worst Ive ever read

    1
    By SwimmerVan3ssa
    I can’t even describe how bad this was. Only one character made it not a complete waste. Eric!
  • Entertaining

    4
    By KLN0928
    I loved the love in this book. Gave me the chills.
  • Summer Island

    5
    By roses1545
    A great story and tearjerker
  • Perfection

    5
    By Doggyritz
    As always, your words took me away and reveals human nature beautifully.
  • Watered Down Storyline.

    1
    By krbf11
    The whole story line felt rushed and watered down, as if real people drop 10 years of baggage and gain a lifetime worth of insight, not to mention communication skills, after spending a week in a vacation home. It’s decent fiction, but in no way deep, enlightening, enriching, or relatable. I usually expect more from Hannah.
  • Great book

    5
    By Louise Poke
    I loved it!
  • An excellent story of family love

    5
    By Diane Offutt
    As always, another beautifully written story that will make you laugh, cry and give you hope. Well-written and definitely a page-turner. I look forward to reading all the novels from Kristen Hannah. Her stories are heartfelt abs so relatable.
  • Don’t bother…...

    2
    By Loleaux1234
    Hard to believe the author of The Nightingale and this book are one and the same. This was so much drivel…..

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