Beth Fish Reads: Today's Read: A Certain Summer by Patricia Beard

21 May 2013

Today's Read: A Certain Summer by Patricia Beard

How exactly would you live your life if your husband had been reported missing in action but was not declared dead? In 1948, Helen Wadsworth was lost in just such a limbo. How could she move on while still hoping Arthur will return to her and their son? But even more difficult, should she even be thinking of a life without him?

Nothing ever changed at Wauregan. That was island's purpose, its life force—and its myth. If there were questions, there were answers, either in the Rule Book devised by its founders and unaltered in half a century, or in the collective memory of its summer people.

The colony's traditions had survived two world wars and the Great Depression, yet in the summer of 1948, undercurrents and disruptions caused by the recent conflict swirled and sucked.

—A Certain Summer by Patricia Beard (Simon & Schuster / Gallery Books, 2013, p.1)

Quick Facts

Setting: Wauregan Island off the New England coast
Circumstances: Helen and her son return to the island, looking forward to the comfort of the summer community
Characters: Helen and her teenage son, Jack; Frank and Peter, veterans and potential suitors; the island community
Genre: historical fiction with a bit of mystery; some romance
Themes: effects of war on relationships and marriage; differences between veterans and the loved ones left behind; coming to terms with loss; the magic of summer places
Miscellaneous: although billed as women's fiction and a good summer read, the novel examines deeper issues

Want to Know More?

In this short video, Patricia Beard discusses A Certain Summer and what inspired her to write historical fiction.

16 comments:

bermudaonion, 5/21/13, 6:47 AM: I've heard that not knowing what happened to a loved one is one of the worst things you could go through. This book sounds engrossing.
(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea, 5/21/13, 6:55 AM: The setting sounds perfect for a summer read. Curious to hear more -- I'd read on.

Thanks for joining us this week; I appreciate it.
JoAnn, 5/21/13, 8:00 AM: This is my kind of summer read!
Brona, 5/21/13, 8:13 AM: I've never heard of Beard before, but I enjoy historical fiction...sounds interesting.
Laurel-Rain Snow, 5/21/13, 8:21 AM: I think that the not knowing could eat away at one's very soul.

This sounds like a book I'd enjoy.

Here's MY TUESDAY MEMES POST
Catherine @ Book Club Librarian, 5/21/13, 9:20 AM: This book sounds like the perfect read for me and one of my book clubs. Thanks for sharing it!

Here's my Tuesday intro and teaser: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2013/05/first-chapter-first-paragraph-14-and.html
Melissas Eclectic Bookshelf, 5/21/13, 9:51 AM: I can't imagine living with that sort of uncertainty...how do you ever grieve and move on? This sounds like a fantastic read...I can tell just from that snippet that the writing is beautiful.
Alice Audrey, 5/21/13, 10:15 AM: What a predicament, but one thousands of women have lived through.
Beth Hoffman, 5/21/13, 10:34 AM: I really enjoyed watching the video and will definitely put this book on my summer reading list!
Margot, 5/21/13, 11:59 AM: I'd like to read this one if for no other reason than to spend hours on that island in 1948. Sounds like a good summer read.
Heather, 5/21/13, 1:18 PM: Sounds like a good summer read. Might have to seek this one out. My teaser: Wall-to-Wall Dead
Nise' , 5/21/13, 10:17 PM: This book definitely appeals to me!
Alice, 5/22/13, 9:47 AM: I'm not sure how I'd move on if that happens to me. I have a feeling I would stay the way I am until the day I die and always in those waking, living moments imagine him to be still with me. This is something that I'd definitely read.
Leslie (Under My Apple Tree), 5/22/13, 11:55 AM: Hadn't heard of this book yet. Sounds great.
Tina, 5/24/13, 6:56 AM: This has to go into my to read pile!
Unknown, 5/24/13, 5:10 PM: I know you post these things because I have so little to read :), lovely...now I want to know more of course!