All the Summers in Between by Brooke Lea Foster

 Title: All the Summers in Between

Author:  Brooke Lea Foster

Narrated by:  Emily Ellet

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 27 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you!

What is your favorite thing about summer?  I love so many things about summer – camping, bonfires, flowers, water, vacations.  I also love to read summer themed books in the summer.

In 1967, Thea and Margot meet each other while working in a record store in a seaside vacation town in the Northeast.  Thea is a poor local girl while Margot is part of a wealthy family.  They bond and dream of leaving to travel to San Francisco.  In 1977, Margot came back and asks Thea to hide her.  Thea is a housewife with a young daughter, while Margot has married the wrong guy and has lost it all.  Will Margot and Thea be able to determine what makes them happy in life?  What happened in 1967 that broke apart their friendship?

My thoughts on this book:

·       The narrator, Emily Ellet, of this audiobook does a good job of having a different voice for the two main characters.

·       Thea is struggling with what she wants from life in 1977.  She wants more than being a housewife.  I was frustrated with her at times as I wanted her to just talk to her husband about her thoughts.  Luckily, she finally does.  In 1967, you can see her and her husband’s relationship blossom.

·       I liked that while Thea had a troubled relationship with her stepdad, they were able to have a better relationship in 1977.  Thea understood him better and helped him out.

·       I didn’t understand why Thea thought Margo was a better friend than Midge in 1977.  Margo was only her friend for a few months in 1967 while Midge had been her friend for years.

·       This book was a mellow book for me which was interesting to listen to, but I didn’t feel tied to the characters if that makes sense. 

Overall, All the Summers in Between is a story of friendship and family relationships through good and bad times.  It was a good summer audiobook and an interesting historical suspense novel.

On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster

 

Title:  On Gin Lane

Author:  Brooke Lea Foster

Narrated by:  Jennifer Aquino

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 55 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank-you!

 Everleigh “Lee” Farrows is read to have a wonderful summer.  She is engaged to the handsome Roland and their future is planned out.  They are having one last summer together before they are married and are staying at the new hotel on Gin Lane that Roland has built at Southampton.  He has named it the Everleigh in her honor.  Everything seems perfect at the opening night party until the hotel burns down.  Who set the fire?  What secrets does Roland not want revealed?

I thought this story was interesting.  I liked the historical mystery.  I also enjoyed how Lee discovers what she herself wants out of life.  I loved her pursuit of photography.  I did have mixed feelings about a few items in this book. I had a hard time imagining parents in 1957 allowing their daughter to stay with her fiancé for an entire summer before their wedding.  Especially upper crust parents.  The love story between Lee and Roland didn’t have enough growth.  Roland always seemed like a bad guy to the story, and I didn’t care about their relationship nearly as much as I cared about the budding relationship between her and her friend Curtis.  I love how Marilyn Monroe cameoed in the novel.  I loved the Southampton setting, the elites, the story of finding oneself, and the time period of the 1950s. 

Narrator Jennifer Aquino did an excellent job and I enjoyed listening to this audiobook.

Summer Darlings by Brooke Lea Foster

 

Title:  Summer Darlings

Author: Brooke Lea Foster

Read by:  Rebekkah Ross

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 18 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank-you!

 

It’s 1962 in Martha’s Vineyard.  JFK is the President.  Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe are super stars.  Heddy Winsome has finished her third year at Wellesley and is working as a nanny to a rich couple, Ted and Jean-Rose Williams.  They have two children, a six-year old named Teddy and a four-year old named Anna.

 

This story is told in roughly three sections.  The first section of the book we meet all of the characters and Heddy is in awe of the splendor of 1960’s Martha Vineyard and the people who populate it, including a movie star next door.  We also find out that Heddy has lost her scholarship and is desperate to return to college.  She is the daughter of a single mother and grew up in Brooklyn.  Her father was a rich man with a family of his own and wanted nothing to do with his illegitimate child.  In the second part of the book, there is a love triangle between Heddy, Ash, and Sullivan.  Ash is the surfer boy from old money that lives next door, and Sullivan is a musician that comes from a very wealthy family.  The last third of the book turns into a heist complete with blackmail. 

 

I loved the setting and the feel of the time period.  I thought this was good escapism reading (or listening).  I was a bit thrown by the end of the book and thought there was a bit of anti-gay sentiment to it.  Otherwise, I liked the romance, and especially liked Heddy’s coming of age story.  Her movie star neighbor and mentor, Gigi was a delight.

 

Rebekkah Ross was a delightful narrator and was the voice of Heddy to me.

 

Overall, Summer Darlings is a great summer / COVID escapism read that sets you into the decadent world of the 1960’s elite.