Summer House Review & Pump Up Your Promo Tour

PUB DATE: June 2009

Thank You to Dorothy at Pump Up Your Promotion for sending me this book and allowing me to be a part of the July virtual tour of it.

This is Nancy Thayer’s latest book. I just love the cover of it and if this doesn’t say summer then I don’t know what does. How I would love to be there right now.

Nancy Thayer has written several New York Times best sellers. Before signing up for this tour I have to admit that I have never heard of Nancy before and after reading Summer House I am curious at pick up some of her earlier books to read.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

At thirty, Charlotte Wheelwright remains the dreamer she’s always been. But when she begins an organic garden on a portion of her grandmother’s land, Charlotte learns to plant her feet in solid ground and begins to build a new life.

More often than not, ninety-year-old Nona Wheelwright contentedly spends her time reminiscing about days gone by. But with her family’s annual reunion and financial meeting looming, Nona must give up her days of quiet solitude to soothe her easily riled up family.

For decades Charlotte’s mother, Helen, who married into the illustrious Wheelwright family, has been pressured to adhere to their way of life. But when, during the course of the family’s annual summer retreat, she discovers her husband’s betrayal, Helen wonders if she sacrificed her dreams for the wrong reasons.

Artfully written and set on the glorious island of Nantucket, Nancy Thayer’s Summer House is a vibrant and stirring novel about family, love, and daily choices that affect entire lives.

New York Times calls it, “a Nantucket family-reunion story…well-wrought, appealing book will come as a pleasant surprise…packed with literally down-to-earth charm, what with a central character who escapes her family of starchy bankers by lovingly tending her vegetable garden.”

MY THOUGHTS:

This is my first time reading anything by Nancy Thayer and I have to say I really enjoyed reading the book. I am just wondering if this story will be continued as there was alot of open gaps that left me wondering alot of things.

While I was reading it I have to admit that Nona was my favorite. I loved reading about her memories. She seems like a great grandmother to have. It was nice reading them as it made you feel you were actually there with her.

Summer House is about three generations of Wheelwright’s. The Wheelwrights run a very well known bank in Nantucket that has been the family business for many generations.

From the outside it looks like the Wheelwrights have the perfect lives but on the inside its not what it appears.

The three main characters in the book seem to tell the story. There is Nona who is the matriarch of the Wheelwright’s and is 90 years old. She has two grown children, Grace & Worth. Grace is married and has three grown daughters. Worth is married to Helen and has three grown children as well. Their daughter Charlotte is 30 and is living with Nona.

Nona gave us a glimpse into her life from the time she was introduced into the Wheelwright family. She over heard Herb’s(her deceased husband)mother and father telling her they didn’t think she was good enough for the family when she was younger. She tried very hard to fit into this family. She always wondered when and if she would fit in.

Helen is in her 60s and is having to deal with alot of things and basically has alot on her plate. What will she do when she finds out about Worth’s secret life? Will she be able to confide in anyone? Will she be able to forgive him? She wonders when will she be a grandmother. She is very much like Nona trying to fit into the family and basically just goes with the flow.

Charlotte is Helen’s 30 year old daughter who is basically a free spirit. She is a dreamer and that is what the family sees her as. She has no real goals in her life and never sees things through. When she goes to live with Nona she feels as though she has found her calling in life and has set up an organic farm. When the family hears she made a profit they feel as though their is favorites within the family. Is that true? Will she be able to see things through and start a new life? What will Nona have to say about letting Charlotte having that little piece of land to the family? Will she be able to find happiness and be with a man, Coop or Whit?

It was nice to read Summer House because it appears as though this family has it all but when you look behind close doors they aren’t that perfect family the appear to be. Each family has their own secrets and some surprising then others.

Reading Summer House I almost felt like I was there. I love a book like that. I think one day I will have to go to Nantucket.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nancy Thayer is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Hot Flash Club, The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again, Hot Flash Holidays, The Hot Flash Club Chills Out, and Moon Shell Beach. She is also the author of a new June release, Summer House. She is the mother of Samantha Wilde, whose debut novel, This Little Mommy Stayed Home, comes out on June 23. Nancy lives on Nantucket.

You can visit her website at http://www.nancythayer.com/.