One Summer
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4.0 • 129 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
When Jack Canfield is told he has a terminal illness and that he has weeks to live, his first concern is for his beloved wife, Lizzie, and children, baby Jack, Cory and rebellious teenager Mikki. On Christmas Eve, when Lizzie comes home, Jack is devastated to see his neighbour, Bill Miller, kiss Lizzie on their driveway. Jack confronts her, she tries to explain he's got it all wrong, and distraught, she leaves the house into an ice storm - and a fatal collision with a truck.
Overwhelmed with grief, and with his illness worsening Jack is taken into a hospital. The children move to the West Coast to live with various members of the family. But then a miracle happens. Jack begins to recover, and day by day he starts to heal. Confounding the doctors, Jack leaves the hospital without any evidence of the illness.
Unexpectedly the family inherits a beautiful old villa with a lighthouse on the beach in South Carolina. It was the house where Lizzie grew up and Jack feels an inexplicable closeness to her while he's there. Although his mother-in-law, Bonnie, has other ideas for their future, Jack knows that this is the chance he has to re-build his relationship with his kids. And as he struggles to reconnect with the children, he also has the chance to find love again, perhaps even with Lizzie's help.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Legal thriller fixture Baldacci (Deliver Us from Evil) churns out a creaky, contrived family drama about Jack Armstrong, a terminally ill family man just praying to make it to Christmas. Sadness abounds, much more so when Jack's wife, Lizzie, is killed in a car wreck while on a medicine run. Plans are made by Jack's mean mother-in-law Bonnie: the three kids will get divided up among aunts and uncles across the country, and Jack will be put into hospice. Miraculously, Jack's health turns around, and he's able to reclaim his kids and move the brood from Ohio to the South Carolina shore where Lizzie grew up. There, he tries to reassemble the family and learn how to be a single parent, and just as they're beginning to settle into a functional family again, Bonnie sues for custody of the kids. Yes, it possesses all the subtlety of a dog fight, but it's also choked with pap ("No matter what you do, no matter how hard you fight, life sometimes just doesn't make sense") and so sappy you'd think Baldacci was earning a commission on each tear jerked.
Customer Reviews
One Summer
Sad but beautiful! Made me angry but happy! I felt every emotion possible throughout the story. Makes one stop & think about the importance of those we love & how fortunate we really are. Yes, love is forever! A must read....truly beautiful....
One summer
Wow what an amazing book.
I'm a 40 yr young woman lol always hated reading when my relationship ended for some reason I jumped on my iPad and decided to buy a book and read. Well what can I say this book was an amazing story and would be a great movie. Couldn't take my eyes off the book it only took me 2 days to read it omg it made me laugh cry and made me angry but David thank you for such a great book and I'm great flu I came across it and so blessed to read my first book fully in 40 yrs. thank you 😄 Lisa Melbourne Victoria Australia
One summer
What a great read.Couldn't put it down lots of emotion,