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    The Book of Summers
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    The Book of Summers
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    The Book of Summers
    Ebook355 pages6 hours

    The Book of Summers

    By Emylia Hall

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook



    For nine-year-old Beth Lowe, it should have been a magical summersun-kissed days lounging in rickety deck chairs, nights gathered around the fire. But what begins as an innocent vacation to Hungary ends with the devastating separation of her parents. Beth and her father return home alone, leaving her mother, Marika, behind.

    Over the next seven summers, Beth walks a tightrope between worlds, fleeing her quiet home and distant father to bask in the intoxicating Hungarian countryside with Marika. It is during these enthralling summers that Beth comes to life and learns to love. But at sixteen, she uncovers a life-shattering secret, bringing her sacred summers with Marika abruptly to an end.

    Now, years later, Beth receives a package containing a scrapbook, a haunting record of a time long forgotten. Suddenly, she is swept back to the world she left behind, forced to confront the betrayal that destroyed herand to search her heart for forgiveness.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarlequin MIRA
    Release dateJun 1, 2012
    ISBN9781459230026
    Unavailable
    The Book of Summers

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    Reviews for The Book of Summers

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      A girl is torn between two worlds after a summer vacation in Hungary, when her mother remains in her country of origin and she returns to England with her father. Once she forgives her mother for abandoning her, their relationship keeps growing year after year. Her Hungarian summers are as adventurous, refreshing, vibrant and intense as her mother. Her British winters are just like his father, quiet, dull and predictable. Until one day a terrible secret is revealed and nothing stays the same.

      The author makes an excellent job describing each character, showing a delicate understanding of human behavior and unstated thoughts. Through its poetic writing I found myself reflected in many descriptions and tiny details of every day life.

      I simply fell in love with this book. I was delighted by all the precious cultural ingredients of life in Hungary but also deeply moved by the opposed feelings about this out of ordinary family.
    • 5/5
      This book is life changing. Really. I'm sure there are many women who can identify with Marika. The best way to describe this story is to say... you begin a journey that you dream about in secret, and get to see the results without actually living the dream. Thank you Ms. Hall. Really.
    • 5/5
      This book was an absolute surprise for me. Taking place in both present and past times, spanning across countries, we follow Beth Lowe as she looks through a scrapbook sent from an old friend, and created by her estranged mother. This book, called The Book of Summers, unlocks everything from 6 years she spent in Hungary, and the time surrounding it. The Book of Summers doesn’t only unlock those moments, they unlock a young Beth, and other feelings, and thoughts Beth thought she had left behind.Emylia really cares about her characters: no matter what they’ve done you feel for them, you understand their reasons, you want them to be okay. This can be really difficult to achieve but Emylia makes it look easy. It’s important for me to like the characters, to want to follow their story, and see them succeed, and this Emylia manages to do with all of them.Another thing the author manages to do is make you really feel the places you are in. There are no lengthy, boring descriptions, but she describes them well, you can see those places, feel them, want to be there. I mean I was ready to get a plane ticket to Hungary because of her book, and you can tell her love for this place, having travelled to Hungary herself since the Berlin Wall came down.This is a book about re-awakenings, about never being too late, and to never ignore your heart. I fell in love with this book, the people, and the places, and I will be reading this again!
    • 3/5
      I loved the relationship between Beth and her father despite the focus on her relationship with Marika. I particularly liked the part where she talked to her father about the many different paths that their lives could have taken if the secret had been revealed earlier.
    • 5/5
      This book is magical, sad, tragic and redemptive all wrapped up in a love story to Hungary. A country about which, I must admit, I know very little. As the tale begins we meet Beth Lowe, a somewhat constrained and shall I say it, boring, young English woman with a very poor relationship with her father. He is coming to visit and the reader can tell she is oh so hopeful for more between them. But he comes not to see her but to deliver a package from Hungary - a package full of memories Beth would rather not revisit.I fell into this book and could not put it down. The writing! The writing! It is magical - it drew me in and wouldn't let me go. I felt the sun. I was refreshed by a dip in a pool deep in the forest. I fell in love with a country I know nothing about. Such is the power of Ms. Hall's pen. As to the story - she had me raving at characters, crying at passages and rejoicing at conclusions that were still very uncertain. I can't say I agree with or understand the actions of her protagonist - it's a lot of anger to hold for a very long time - but I can't say that I didn't enjoy the journey.I'm keeping this one for it is one that deserves another read or two. I know that I'll find nuances I missed on my first read through that will enhance the story and it's one of those tales that will read better with foreknowledge of the ending. This will be one of my top ten for the year.
    • 4/5
      Author: Emylia HallPublished By: Mira: Original EditionAge Recommend: AdultReviewed By: Arlena DeanRaven Rating: 4Blog Review For: Great Minds Think AloudReview:"The Book of Summers" by Emylia Hall was indeed a wonderful book of Beth/Erszi trying to understand her past....her mothers family history...due to a unexpected parcel from Hungary. Now this is a very long descriptive read so be ready for the long read, however, if you can stay with this story line you will not be disappointed....going from present to past times over the countries..(Hungary, Devon, London). This author really makes you feel the places you are in...especially in Hungary.Beth(Erzsi)Lowe is now living in Victoria Park, London and her father comes to visit and gives her a parcel (from her recently deceased mother)... that he had received at his home in Devon and this cause quite a stir because nothing was to be received from Hungary. Now why was that? However, Beth goes and opens the parcel discovering that it is "The Book of Summers" which was a scrapbook of seven past summers she had spent in Hungary with her mother. Now... Beth is remembering those summers and what had happen even the last one she had spent there...For this book will slowly reveal just what happened that Beth had forgotten her "7 summers in Hungary" and in the end it all come clear to the reader. Just how could a Mother let go of her child and put a country first....however, I was able to understand after the read of the outcome. I really liked the way this author didn't let the cat out of the bag until almost the end of this wonderful story. If you can hang on you will find out what had caused this rift between Beth and her father. By going through this scrapbook will Beth be able to look at her life especially her teenage years differently and even understand why her family had done what was done? ...summer spent in Hungary and the secret why the summers stopped and Beth became estranged from her mother...with many twist and turns... soon letting us understand just what had happen. Now this is the part where I will say you must pick up this novel and read to find out just what has gone on. I really enjoyed the characters... Beth(Erzsi), Marika( Mother), David(Dad), Aunt Jessica, Zoltan, Angelika, Balint, Tamas and Justin ...all making this a well written story. "The Book of Summers" was a good read and well written..... definitely a novel to makeyou think. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a good fiction read of dreams of the teenager, problems and choices that we have as adults with family relationships....then this read is for you.
    • 4/5
      I thought this was a thoughtful, gentle and compelling book. It is quite a slow read, so those who enjoy a fast paced story could be disappointed. It is a tale to ponder on and not one to rush. At times it reads like a memoir - the main character of Beth or Erzsi came across as quite real.I also thought it was very evocative of Hungary, where most of the story is set. I almost felt I was there and it made me want to visit - the imagery and descriptions are wonderful.It's a story about growing up, the paths we choose and the consequences of our actions. I think this phrase from the book sums it up: sometimes if you do not go backwards, you cannot move forwards.Beautifully and poetically written, it's an excellent debut novel. I look forward to reading further work by Emylia Hall.
    • 4/5
      When I first started reading this book, I thought this was just another woman's fiction book. It is to a certain extent but it became so much more. Long lost package, summers spent in Hungary and a secret about while the summers came to an end and Erzebet became estranged from her mother. All this is revealed in a provocative twist and suddenly the book becomes much more than it was at the beginning. Loved the descriptions of Hungary and much of its culture, which I had not read about before, and the descriptive prose was beautiful. Although I did find the book to be a bit melancholy, in the end it seemed more about how things we often cannot control have lasting repercussions. ARC from NetGalley.
    • 4/5
      This book delivered on some levels, but not on others.Essentially a 'coming of age' novel, I was expecting more from the promise of “seven glorious childhood summers that Beth spent in rural Hungary”. In truth, she spent short summer holidays there and as such the novel falls back into the realms of any young girl who spent her summer holidays in the same place each year and the notion that the 'grass is always greener' when you are on holiday.There is a twist, however, in that Beth has blocked these holidays out. Her memories are unlocked by the delivery of a Book and, through looking at that book with her, we discover why she has tried to forget those idyllic days. The skeleton in the family closet rattles its bones at us throughout the novel.I am left slightly disappointed that the effects of this skeleton are only explored in depth in terms of Beth's relationship with her Mother. Having said that, it is a book about Beth and her Mother when all said and done.However, I think my lack of empathy for Beth stems mainly from the way her relationship with her Father is portrayed. Summer Holidays in Hungary are obviously the mainstay of the novel, but I cannot help but remember that most of these years are spent with her father.The prose is beautiful, but it became too much for me in places and I got bored.Whilst there is much happiness in the pages of this book, my main impression was of deep sadness... but it was not Beth that I felt sorry for, it was her Father.In conclusion, it was a good read overall. Although what I took from it's pages may not be what was intended, it did engage me and I did take something from it.I would recommend this as a good holiday read – the prose certainly lends itself to being read whilst soaking up some sun of your own.
    • 2/5
      The Book of Summers is a book that the main character, Beth Lowe, receives from her mother in Hungary. It is a book of pictures from each of the summers that Beth spent in Hungary as a teenager. We know that something has caused Beth to cease contact with her mother and the country of her mother's birth, and the book slowly unfolds to reveal the reason why. Each year's set of pictures triggers Beth into telling the reader her particular memories of that time.I expected to really like this book. It has a present day story and one that is taking place in the past. It has family memories, and intrigue. However, I did find it very difficult to get into and never really did get into it, to be honest. It's a very overly descriptive book, with very little dialogue, and that kind of read just doesn't suit me. It has a melancholy feel to it, but I can't say I felt any empathy with the main character.I can see that this may be a bit of a `Marmite' book, one which people either love (judging by other reviews) or just cannot take to, and I am in the latter camp. I can, however, appreciate that the writing is decent and Emylia Hall probably has a good career ahead of her.