Star-crossed soulmates rekindle their
romance, love and perpetual loyalty one weekend every year--for 28 years.
Elin
Hilderbrand tugs on readers' heartstrings with great aplomb. In 28
Summers, she begins at the end of a long-term, unconventional romance
and weaves the captivating story of star-crossed lovers through 28 years of
history.
The 1978 movie Same Time, Next Year--an American romantic-comedy-drama--serves as inspiration to the
structure of the story and to main characters Mallory Blessing and Jake
McCloud, who are fans of the film. Mallory and Jake developed an easy,
flirtatious camaraderie over the phone while Jake and Cooper, Mallory's
brother, roomed together at college. The two meet face-to-face only in 1993,
while in their 20s--after Mallory inherits a Nantucket beach house from her
aunt. Mallory plays host to soon-to-be-married Cooper and his friends, who
gather on the island for his bachelor party on Labor Day weekend. The gathering
goes bust on many levels, but Mallory and Jake forge an intimate bond--a
soulmate connection--amid the mayhem and vow that every year, on Labor Day
weekend, they should meet up again, just like in the iconic film.
For the next 28 years, the couple
fulfills their pact, having contact with each other for only one weekend
annually, where they secretly rekindle their romance and share the travails of
their private lives--the challenges and sacrifices of dating and marriage to
other people, parenthood and career pursuits. Careful plotting binds this
deeply moving, powerful story. Hilderbrand
(Summer of 69; The Perfect Couple) successfully
entwines a host of surprising twists where multi-faceted characters become
ensnared in thought-provoking romantic dilemmas.
28
Summers: A Novel by Elin HilderbrandLittle, Brown and Company, $28.00 Hardcover, 9780316420044, 432 pages
Publication Date: June 16, 2020
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NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted
with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (June 19, 2020), link HERE