Girls of Summer by Nancy Thayer ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

A few weeks ago Susan mentioned which book signals the start of summer. For me, summer starts when I have in my hands Nancy Thayer's latest beach read. As this weekend is the unofficial start of summer in the U.S., it is fitting that Girls of Summer hits shelves on Tuesday.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

May 2020; Ballantine Books; 978-1524798758
audio, ebook, print (320 pages); women's fiction

As I read Girls of Summer, all I wanted to do was slip on a sundress and a pair of sandals. Unfortunately, Georgia was experiencing an unseasonable cold snap so I was wrapped up in sweatshirts and fuzzy blankets instead. But that didn't keep me from enjoying the book.

I felt that Girls of Summer was a little different than other books by Thayer I've read. One, the main female character is a older than the other female protagonist. She's in her fifties, and though she is older than me, I did identify with some of the feelings she had in regards to dating a younger man. There are two other prominent females who are in their mid- to late-twenties. I liked Juliet, Lisa's daughter. While younger than me, the need to stay close in case her mother needed her and trying to figure out what she really wants career-wise resonated with me. Mack's daughter Beth, on the other hand, got on my nerves. She played the "poor me" card a bit too much. It is sad that her mother died when she was a toddler and her highschool boyfriend, who she stayed with more out of obligation, committed suicide. Sure these circumstances shaped her life, but part of me wanted to shake her and tell her to grow up. Her reaction to seeing Mack and Lisa together had me almost putting the book down because it was just too much.

Another difference about this book was its emphasis on the environment. Plastic in the oceans has been in the news a lot, so it is a timely topic for Thayer's new book and totally made sense for the coastal town of Nantucket. As someone who cares about the environment and at one point had hoped to work for an environmental non-profit, I enjoyed this aspect of the story.

As always when reading one of Thayer's novels, my desire to one day visit Nantucket intensified. Even the freak storm with serious storm surge didn't dampen my desire. Ironically, I was experiencing my own deluge of rain and risk of flooding while reading Girls of Summer.

Whether you are headed to the beach, lake, pool, or just your back porch this summer, you will want to make sure you have Nancy Thayer's Girls of Summer with you.

Buy Girls of Summer at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. 

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