Summer Roommates
-
- US$9.99
-
- US$9.99
출판사 설명
A summer beach read with heart and substance, this poignant novel will delight fans of Elin Hildebrand, Nancy Thayer, and Shelley Noble, as four older women who are strangers to each other share a house for the summer in the picturesque Maine town of Yorktide.
Sandra Pennington has lived through enough Maine winters to know how long they can be. Even in April, Yorktide is chilly and muddy, adding to Sandra’s pangs of loneliness. It’s been five years since her husband died, her dearest friend is in a care facility, her children are grown, and the big house is suddenly terribly empty. But Sandra has a plan: to rent out three bedrooms and set up a summer bed and breakfast of sorts.
There will be challenges, of course, and Sandra’s daughter is concerned. But Sandra is eager to try and build a community of like-minded, mature women for companionship and support. Soon, one by one, her chosen housemates arrive . . .
Mary, recently retired, is ready to discard her tough lawyer façade. Patty refuses to reveal—or act—her age, but beneath her flightiness lies a deep vulnerability. High-school teacher Amanda feels uncertain about where her long-term relationship is going. But surely it’s too late now to change course?
Over arguments and laughter, these very different women get to know each other—and themselves. And while summer is always too short, there’ll be time enough for reinvention, reflection—and realizing it’s never too late to keep growing, changing—and making new friends . . .
Praise for the novels of Holly Chamberlin
“A great summer read but with substance. It will find a wide audience in its exploration of sisterhood, family, and loss.” —Library Journal on Summer with My Sisters
“Nostalgia over real-life friendships lost and regained pulls readers into the story.”
—USA Today on Summer Friends
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chamberlain's ponderous latest (after A Summer Love Affair) follows four women over the course of a summer as they share a house in Maine. Sandra Pennington, recently widowed, hopes to alleviate her loneliness by opening her four-bedroom home to strangers. She hires a real estate agent to vet applicants and selects Mary Frasier, a recently retired New York City lawyer and recovering workaholic; Amanda Irving, a 50-something high-school teacher in Boston debating whether to break up with her boyfriend of eight years; and Patty Porter, a former office assistant who relies on handouts from her sisters. The women get together for dinners every Wednesday night, during which they swap opinions about families, aging, religion, and caregiving. As the months tick by, they grow closer, and each woman weighs their options for a happier life. Chamberlin retreads many of the same scenes from each character's point of view, which feels like padding. She's better in scenes where the women exchange their theories on life (Amanda wonders if "the notion of a maternal instinct was in fact a damaging myth meant to control the lives of women"). Though occasionally thought-provoking, this is fairly humdrum.