Summer Secrets: A Novel Paperback – May 24, 2016

Over the years I have read a number of Jane’s books and enjoyed them. Summer Secrets was eminently readable and thought provoking.Set in London and Nantucket, the story weaves between 3 generations. Audrey the American who came to the UK and married an Englishman. Audrey’s daughter Cat, her husband Jason and their daughter Annie.As a young married woman, Audrey visits her aunt in Nantucket. During her visit she meets with a local artist Brooks who is a neighbour. After the death of the man that Cat thought of as her father, her mother tells her that he was not her biological dad. She discovers who is, and visits him and meets her two half-sisters. Personalities clash and secrets develop.One of the facets that makes the book so thought provoking is the way the author delves into the world of what is acceptable and not acceptable in terms of drinking. Cat has a problem and she has to face that demon. Her journey to sobriety is not without mishaps and again secrets.Although that may sound a bit much, in actual fact the book is skilfully written so the reader is able to empathise with some of the characters and their issues. In particular the way that common traits within families manifest themselves in different ways.I really enjoyed the gay character Sam. Who else would have thought of making a rather dull holiday house exciting by buying up the local interior store and placing cushions, throws and scented candles around the house to make it more ‘chic’?Nantucket is now on my bucket list after reading the descriptions of the area. It sounds lovely with a different pace of life to that of nearby cities such as New York City and Boston. Definitely Ralph Lauren with a hint of Boden thrown in.Don’t be put off by the subject matter in the book. Enjoy the complexities of relationships within families and the journey that Cat undertakes to understand herself.

This book helps me understand alcoholism a little better. Even though I have several alcoholics in my family I still didn't totally get it. And just a good story too.

Based on the title and the cover I expected a “beach read “. This book is so much more. It is an authentic description of a young woman who abuses alcohol. Her denials of having a problem, her half hearted attempts at sobriety and the toll it takes on her life ring true. There’s also plenty of family issues that begin in her childhood. This book isn’t for the faint hearted, but I highly recommend it. It’s such a worthwhile read.

Wonderful book where Jane pulls you in like she always does! I cried at times, but loved the ending! I would definitely recommend it!!

Definitely not what I was expecting, had to push myself to continuing reading. I wasn’t that interested in the beginning, but it gets better. The ending I thought was absolutely amazing and not at all excepted.

I was surprised that this book caught my interest more than I thought it wood. I thought it would just be the same old love lost-Love found - story. I'm 96% finished with it, and have found it has a few twists that helped to keep my interest - some of them expected, some of them a surprise. I will be interested when I finish the story to research the author to see if she writes from experience. In any event the author seems well acquainted with the AA. Almost finished, but no matter the conclusion, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it as a good summer read (even though it's almost Thanksgiving!).

This is one of those novels that wind up being disappointing because it had the potential to be so much more. This is chick lit, but the female characters are portrayed very badly-they're all either drunks, depressed,make bad decisions, are nasty and vengeful, jealous, or backstabbers. The vast majority of the men are portrayed in an overwhelmingly positive light...all calm, patient, loving, etc. This is the antithesis of femininity. I read to the end, hoping for a positive message on family and the bond of sisterhood. Instead, the message seems to be that the most important thing in life is landing a man, even a man that has rejected you more than once before. This makes a pretty decent beach read...but don't expect for it to be a positive, uplifting experience. Instead, it kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Such a good classic Jane Green book. I always love her books some more then others but this is a definite winner!

At first I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this book. Having an alcoholic as your central character is a risky decision and I was expecting this to descend in to a parody of the condition as most books usually do. Fortunately, there is no parody here and Cat's story of how she comes to rely on alcohol to get her through the day and the descriptions of how tightly it grips her are unsentimentally described. Her refusal to see her predicament, her reluctant attempt at sobriety to keep the man she has fallen in love with, her spectacular fall off the wagon she was desperately clinging to and then her genuine attempt to put alcohol in her past are dealt with sensitively and yet have the brutal edge of reality.I actually really liked Cat, despite her many flaws. She felt entirely real on the page and the contrast between her apparently glamorous media job and the disaster that was her home life felt entirely believable. I also loved her wit, even in her darkest hours she seemed to find a turn of phrase that would elicit a wry smile. There is also a good attempt to explore the nature of alcohol addiction and how much of it we are predisposed to - the nature vs nuture debate - and in Cat's case there are strong indicators that it is a genuine mix of both (unstable early life with a depressive mother and a controlling father figure who leaves her feeling than she is worthless, a father who she didn't know about who has his own problems with alcohol and writes them off as being his heritage). I even enjoyed her AA sessions, yes the whole "higher power" thing they eschew makes me VERY uncomfortable but there is no doubt that it can and does help an awful lot of people and this novel illustrates how it works.However, the book is about so much more than Cat's alcoholism. It is about the struggles that life throws at us and how you just have to knuckle down and get on with it. If you are lucky you have a support network to get you through and hopefully that is your family. This book deals with Cat's struggles to find that family and about how friends can become your family. It is beautifully written and I got really sucked in to the author's fictional world. The only downside for me were the Nantucket sections, I have only read two Jane Green books and they both heavily feature Nantucket so it had a vague air of Deja Vu about it in places.The ending does leave the reader feeling a little cheated with its will-they-won't-they. However, I kind of liked that as it leaves the reader to make up their own mind about how events unfold for Cat, Jason and Annie after that fateful summer.

I enjoyed meeting the characters of this story and they're twisty lives. There were bits that seemed repetitive padding, and I skipped a few paragraphs, but it didn't detract too much from a story well told.Looking forward to reading more from the author.

I love Jane Green and I loved her latest character Cat, I literally raced through this book in a couple of days. So why only 3 stars? Firstly I felt there was way too much dialogue about AA and "the programe" it became quite depressing and tedious at points however I think she covered the realities of alcohol addiction very well. Secondly the ending came from no where and I was left feeling extremely cheated so many things were left up in the air. An epilogue at the very least was needed

Beware spoiler.....I don't normally write reviews but simehow this book made me cross! Firstly, there is so much repetition, I kept finding myself thinking you've already said this! I know it's only fiction but the author goes to great pains to explain alcoholism and its impact and the benefits of AA, (a bit too much detail on the AA meetings, it hot tedious...)but then theres the fairytale ending which just spoilt it!! it should have ended at the point she realised she was going to be OK by herself. Sorry but this was a very poor story and I just felt disappointed.

The book's title and cover belies the serious nature of the story - recovery from alcoholism - and quality of the writing. I was expecting the usual beach chick lit read, having never read Jane Green before, but was pleasantly surprised. Cat Coombs is a strong, realistic character and the descriptions of Nantucket makes me want to go there. My only complaint was it was finished all too soon!