by Meg Donohue
The Adults by Alison Espach
When this novel opens, it’s summertime in a muggy, green-lawned Connecticut suburb and Espach’s memorable teenage protagonist is about to experience all kinds of heartbreak without ever losing her bright, funny voice. (When asked what the theme of her father’s fiftieth birthday party should be, she replies “Man, aging dramatically!”) If you’re a fan of intelligent coming-of-age fiction and fresh writing, and you’re okay with laughing out loud on the beach while you read, this is the book for you.
The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
Starting in one oceanside setting (Newport, Rhode Island) and ending in quite another (Dorset, England), this juicy historical novel details an American heiress’s adventures in love and title hunting. The upstairs-downstairs plot draws easy comparisons to Downton Abbey, but as I followed heiress Cora Cash’s exploits I found myself equally reminded of another winsomely headstrong, quintessentially American heroine: Scarlett O’Hara. A highly entertaining romance with fascinating period details and evocative writing.
Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
This layered novel reveals the rich inner-lives of the Kelleher family matriarch, her daughter, her daughter-in-law, and her granddaughter, all of whom have complex relationships with one another and the family’s summer home on the coast of Maine. The story is somehow both character-driven and briskly paced, moving between decades-old flashbacks and the present as one heart-wrenching secret after another is revealed over the course of a summer.
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Beautiful Ruins has everything you could possibly desire in a summer read—gorgeous settings (the Italian coast with a splash of Old Hollywood); a large cast of intriguing characters (including a cameo by real-life actor Richard Burton); great writing; and a fun, decades-spanning plot in which numerous story lines—including several moving love stories—are masterfully juggled. This book is like a buffet that offers up all of my favorite foods in one sitting. I devoured it, enjoying every last page.
Have You Read?
More by Meg Donohue
HOW TO EAT A CUPCAKE: A NOVEL
Free-spirited Annie Quintana and sophisticated Julia St. Clair come from two different worlds. Yet, as the daughter of the St. Clairs’ housekeeper, Annie grew up in Julia’s San Francisco mansion and they forged a bond that only two little girls oblivious to class differences could—until a life-altering betrayal destroyed their friendship.
A decade later, Annie bakes to fill the void left in her heart by her mother’s death, and a painful secret jeopardizes Julia’s engagement to the man she loves. A chance reunion prompts the unlikely duo to open a cupcakery, but when a mysterious saboteur opens up old wounds, they must finally face the truth about their past or risk losing everything.
“A sparkling, witty story about an unlikely, yet redemptive, friendship. Donohue’s voice is lovely, intelligent, and alluring. Grab one of these for your best friend and read it together—preferably with a plate of Meyer Lemon cupcakes nearby.”
—Katie Crouch, bestselling author of Girls in Trucks and Men and Dogs
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Advance Praise for All the Summer Girls
“All the Summer Girls celebrates the healing power of friendship for three very different young women with a shared past and different roles in the same guilty secret. Meg Donohue paints a compassionate portrait of what it means to be adrift—in love, and in one’s own sense of self—with engaging heroines both flawed and utterly real.”
—Nichole Bernier, author of The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D.
“All the Summer Girls is an honest and engaging look at the complicated and powerful bonds of female friendship. Donohue takes us on a weekend reunion full of secrets, resentment, and regret—in other words, once you start this book, you won’t be able to put it down!”
—Jennifer Close, New York Times bestselling author of Girls in White Dresses
“Beach book extraordinaire! All the Summer Girls delivered me back to my college summers and the sweet spot between indulging youthful desires and becoming an adult. Donohue’s three protagonists are irresistibly sympathetic as they try to unbury their true selves from the ruinous secrets of their shared past.”
—Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Day
“Meg Donohue’s All the Summer Girls is an intimate, heartfelt, beautiful exploration of friendship, family, and the ties that bind and the secrets that destroy us. Read it first, pass it to your girlfriend later. She’ll be grateful.”
—Allison Winn Scotch, New York Times bestselling author of The Song Remains the Same
“All the Summer Girls is a beautifully wrought story about the tender yet resilient bonds of friendship and the damage of kept secrets. Meg Donohue writes with keen insight, prodding readers to reexamine their own past choices, while gracefully examining themes of family, friendship, and forgiveness.”
—Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of The Time Between
Credits
Cover design by Emin Mancheril
Cover photograph © by Wavebreak Media Ltd/Corbis
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
P.S.™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
ALL THE SUMMER GIRLS. Copyright © 2013 by Meg Donohue. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Print book ISBN 978-0-06-220381-6
EPub Edition © JUNE 2013 ISBN: 9780062203823
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