Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Summer Sisters

Summer Sisters
Judy Blume
1998
Age Level: Adult

Summary: 
No writer captures the seasons of our lives better than Judy Blume.  Now, from the New York Times bestselling author of Wifey and Smart Women, comes an extraordinary novel of reminiscence and awakening--an unforgettable story of two women, two families, and the friendships that shape a lifetime.

When Victoria Leonard answers the phone in her Manhattan office, Caitlin's voice catches her by surprise.  Vix hasn't talked to her oldest friend in months.  Caitlin's news takes her breath away--and Vix is transported back in time, back to the moment she and Caitlin Somers first met, back to the casual betrayals and whispered confessions of their long, complicated friendship, back to the magical island where two friends became summer sisters.

Caitlin dazzled Vix from the start, sweeping her into the heart of the unruly Somers family, into a world of privilege, adventure, and sexual daring.  Vix's bond with her summer family forever reshapes her ties to her own, opening doors to opportunities she had never imagined--until the summer she falls passionately in love.  Then, in one shattering moment on a moonswept Vineyard beach, everything changes, exposing a dark undercurrent in her extraordinary friendship with Caitlin that will haunt them through the years.

As their story carries us from Santa Fe to Martha's Vineyard, from New York to Venice, we come to know the men and women who shape their lives.  And as we follow the two women on the paths they each choose, we wait for the inevitable reckoning to be made in the fine spaces between friendship and betrayal, between love and freedom.

Summer Sisters is a riveting exploration of the choices that define our lives, of friendship and love, of the families we are born into and those we struggle to create.  For every woman who has ever had a friend too dangerous to forgive and too essential to forget, Summer Sisters will glue you to every page, reading and remembering.

Review:
I sort of picked this book up on a whim; I was in a thrift store, and I have no reading material with me, and so I decided to give this a shot.

Overall, I would say it was a decent book. It was written well enough, and the story had me interested and I could sympathize with Vix and her deep feelings of friendship for Caitlin. However, I just don't think that it was a story that was really worth reading about.

The book is set over quite a lengthy period of time, from when Vix is a young girl to when she is a grown adult. It basically follows her life, and most especially her friendship with Caitlin. The reason I'm not really a fan of this book is because I feel like it is something that every girl has experienced in her life; the gaining of a great friend, and then the gradual loss as they grow older and grow apart. I suppose that is why this book is easy for women to relate to, but at the end I found myself with a "So what?!" feeling.

That's not to say that it isn't an interesting story; Caitlin is the type of person who captivates you, and Vix is easy to relate to because she's just your everyday girl, so the story is entertaining. However, I don't feel like I've gotten anything from the story. It's a good beach read, for sure, but nothing like what I was hoping for.

Jane

1 comment:

  1. I first read this book when I was like 12 or so, so 12 years ago, and I loved it then. It was one of my favourite books! I don't know how I would feel about it now if I were to read it for the first time, but it has good memories for me. Also, I think it's the only Judy Blume novel I have ever read.

    ReplyDelete