This is part of my Summer Reads series where I’ll be sharing book recommendations – a series of “not just cookbooks”.
This summer, I’m excited to join Book Sparks Summer Reading Challenge – “The Book Odyssey” and over the course of the summer I will be receiving and reviewing a few books selected by Book Sparks over on Instagram, some of which will find their way here too!
This week, my Summer Reads pick is by Brooke Lea Foster and will transport you to Martha’s Vineyard – a summer destination par excellence – as well as back in time to 1965 and 1978.
From the publisher:
From the “great storyteller” (Natalie Jenner, author of The Jane Austen Society) Brooke Lea Foster, comes a captivating historical fiction novel set in 1965 and 1978 about a graduate student who returns with her sisters to their family’s summer estate on Martha’s Vineyard and begins to unravel old family secrets.
After suffering through her first year of graduate school at Columbia following her senator father’s death, Betsy Whiting is hoping to spend the summer with her boyfriend…and hopefully end the summer as his fiancée. Instead, her mother—a longtime feminist and leader in the women’s rights movement—calls Betsy and her sisters back home to Martha’s Vineyard, announcing that they need to sell their beloved summer house to pay off their father’s debts.
When Betsy arrives on the island a week later, she must reckon with her strained familial relationships, a long-ago forbidden romance, and the complicated legacy of her parents, who divided the family even as they did good for the world.
Following a dual timeline between 1965 and 1978, and filled with the vibrant, sunlit nostalgia of the cherished New England vacation setting, Our Last Vineyard Summer poignantly captures two generations of women navigating grief, sisterhood, and female friendship while trying to find the courage to stand up for what they believe in—and the strength to decide if the home they once loved is worth saving.
Ok, I LOVED this book and could not stop reading it! It swept me away to “the Vineyard” and had a little bit of everything – nostalgia for “simpler times” in the past (but were they really?) family drama, unrequited love, forbidden love affairs and a complicated family history that takes place through some interesting times in American politics. Plus, summer vibes a go-go. What’s not to love?
The story takes place in the two alternative timelines but it is easy to keep track of what’s going on. Chapters are short and keep your attention. The book is most definitely character driven with strong female characters who explore their feminine identity and place in the world in both timelines (with each timeline posting a different set of challenges) alongside the themes of motherhood, sisterhood, self-discovery, pursuing your dreams and, ultimately, healing.
Whilst at first glance, this might seem like a light summer throwaway read, it’s so much more. The social commentary on issues from the not-so-distant-past remains surprisingly current and I loved the mix of historical writing alongside the family drama and secrets storyline.
A HIGHLY recommended Summer Read!
Buy Our Last Vineyard Summer on Amazon (this affiliate link should bring you to the Amazon store in, or closest to, your country).
For free worldwide shipping, find Our Last Vineyard Summer on Blackwell’s.
Support your local Indie bookstore and purchase Our Last Vineyard Summer on Bookshop.org.
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Please note: This post contains affiliate links. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post also contains affiliate links for Blackwell’s and Bookshop.org. This means that if you click over and purchase something, I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price (at no extra cost to you). Thank you in advance!
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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am not receiving any compensation for reviewing the book. Neither the author nor the publisher reviewed this post prior to publication. All opinions are my own.
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Buy my books! In the French kitchen with kids and French Food for Everyone: le goûter (after school snacks), le dîner (dinner) and le petit déjeuner (breakfast) are out now! Click here for details and how to order!
