That Summer A Novel

Jennifer Weiner — 2021

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Weiner, the undisputed boss of the beach read, is back with another stunner.” —The New York Times “That Summer Is Your *IDEAL* Beach Read.” —Cosmopolitan Named a Most Anticipated Book of Spring 2021 by Marie Claire, Bustle, Good Morning America, CNN, PopSugar, Good Housekeeping, Frolic, Country Living, and Working Mother From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Summer comes another deliciously twisty novel of intrigue, secrets, and the transformative power of female friendship. Daisy Shoemaker can’t sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content. But her teenage daughter can be a handful, her husband can be distant, her work can feel trivial, and she has lots of acquaintances, but no real friends. Still, Daisy knows she’s got it good. So why is she up all night? While Daisy tries to identify the root of her dissatisfaction, she’s also receiving misdirected emails meant for a woman named Diana Starling, whose email address is just one punctuation mark away from her own. While Daisy’s driving carpools, Diana is chairing meetings. While Daisy’s making dinner, Diana’s making plans to reorganize corporations. Diana’s glamorous, sophisticated, single-lady life is miles away from Daisy’s simpler existence. When an apology leads to an invitation, the two women meet and become friends. But, as they get closer, we learn that their connection was not completely accidental. Who IS this other woman, and what does she want with Daisy? From the manicured Main Line of Philadelphia to the wild landscape of the Outer Cape, written with Jennifer Weiner’s signature wit and sharp observations, That Summer is a story about surviving our pasts, confronting our futures, and the sustaining bonds of friendship.

Reviews

Emma Johnson@emjohns

Mar 1, 2022

This was my first experience with a Jennifer Weiner book, and I have become a fan! This tells the story of two different women named Diana- whose lives are intertwined In the most personal ways. “Daisy” is a young and lonely housewife with a teenage daughter who doesn’t care much for her and a distant husband, her only best friend dead. That’s when Diana comes along, their email address is so close to each other that Daisy keeps receiving Diana’s emails. They begin talking and become friends, through the story, Diana is keeping a huge secret from Daisy, until everything unravels. In light of the Me Too movement, That Summer looks into a woman who is trying to find justice for crimes committed over 30 years ago, and what length she will go to to get that justice. I really enjoyed this book, I feel like some other books exploit sexual assault for shock value, but Weiner was sensitive about the topic, not unnecessary, violent scenes. She shows how this affects one woman’s whole life.

Lauren Attaway@camcray

Jan 26, 2022

I think some authors hit a point-more than once if their fans are really, really lucky, where it is like all of the things we enjoyed about their work kick up a notch. For me and Jen Weiner, it was it Mrs. Everything. Last Summer and That Summer continue to tell strong stories about women finding/losing/regaining their power. This book is perfect for summertime as we have the three things most summer books need-a great setting, food details and an unpredictable plot that keeps you reading! Daisy Shoemaker has the kind of life women are taught to want, but she is really dealing with a distant teenager and a husband she worries doesn’t spend enough time with her. When she begins emailing the glamorous Diana, a successful New Yorker, Daisy is simply happy to have a new friend. Because this is a Jennifer Weiner novel, there’s layers here. In That Summer, we are invited into the story of Daisy and Diana, who at first glance only seem to share a similar email address, but the reality is so much more! I feel like this is one of those books that is better the less you know what is going on, but the story takes from Cape Cod to New York to Philly, backwards and forwards and time, and I stayed up late reading to find out what happened. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

Sharon Steinman@aurorareads

Oct 4, 2021

I just finished That Summer a few days ago. Daisy Shoemaker accidentally gets an email from Diana Starling in which Diana's life sounds amazing, Daisy sends Diana an email and the two have a nice email exchange and decide to meet in person where they instantly become friends. Daisy's friend Hannah recently passed away so it's wonderful for Diana to have a new friend that she can be open with and talk to. Daisy's life has become a bit more challenging recently as her daughter Beatrice may end up getting kicked out of private school which is her husband's alma mater. Hal's not impressed and seems a bit more distant recently. This book is recent from the viewpoint of a few different characters in the book and also covers different time periods which eventually come together. I enjoyed the book, it wasn't surprising where things moved in the story. Recently I have read a few books that have taken place around Cape Cod, which makes me want to travel there myself one of these days to see it in person! Although this isn't part of a series, I am glad I read Big Summer first. There are some serious topics covered in this book. If you haven't read it I would encourage you to read it, if you like her books, I would give it 4.