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That Summer

Review

That Summer

In THAT SUMMER, Jennifer Weiner returns to her beloved Cape to share the tale of two Dianas. There may be more to their eventual friendship than meets the eye.

When Daisy (formerly known as Diana) Shoemaker receives a series of emails by mistake --- her address is one punctuation mark away from the intended recipient --- she is amused and enjoys catching a glimpse into the life of a woman who seems so different from her. Daisy got married with one year of college remaining, and she has spent the next decade and a half devoted to her husband, Hal, and her daughter, Beatrice. She keeps their beautiful house immaculate, cooks elaborate meals, and entertains Hal's business partners and friends. She has a small business teaching cooking, but any ambitions she has nourished withers from her husband's indifference. She dotes on Beatrice but completely fails to understand her unorthodox hobbies and independent nature.

"Women who must overcome emotional hardship and become strong in their own right, a fabulous setting on the beach, delicious meals and a wonderful friendship all serve to make THAT SUMMER an engrossing and touching novel."

When Diana of the misaddressed emails apologizes and offers to meet her in New York for a drink, Daisy is thrilled. She imagines this single businesswoman to be worldly, independent and successful --- the antithesis of what she is. It turns out that Diana has gone to incredible lengths to meet Daisy and form a relationship with her. Weiner slowly coaxes out the details and takes us from the past to the present and back again to fill in the story. In a carefully wrought narrative that alternates from the points of view of Daisy and Diana, we learn about each of their families and how those relationships influenced and propelled each girl on their quite different paths to womanhood. We also hear (to a lesser extent) the perspectives of Beatrice and Hal.

Because Weiner and her family spend so much time on the Cape, the setting becomes real to us as well. We can picture the brilliant water and the bright blue cloudless skies, and we can smell the salt of the briny water and feel the sand under our feet as Diana walks around her cottage. And because of Weiner's impressive writing chops, we are bereft when Diana loses her rescue dog many years after she adopted him, and our mouths water as she describes the food at the restaurant on the Cape where Diana works and in Daisy's own kitchen.

Women who must overcome emotional hardship and become strong in their own right, a fabulous setting on the beach, delicious meals and a wonderful friendship all serve to make THAT SUMMER an engrossing and touching novel. A major theme of the book revolves around protecting the next generation of women and empowering them. It's about sharing and supporting each other…and it’s also (maybe) about forgiveness. The ending is such that we don't know what Daisy will do, and we are content with that, perhaps because we know that whatever decision she makes will be the right one for her and her daughter.

While THAT SUMMER is certainly --- thanks to the Cape setting --- a beach read, it is not a lighthearted novel. It's about violence and cruelty and the harsh reality that a life of privilege often means a life in which wrongs are not righted.

Sadly, just two days before the book’s release (on Mother’s Day of all days), Weiner's beloved mother passed away. Even her short passage sharing this heartbreaking news is lovely: "Frances Frumin Weiner, 77, died peacefully this morning at her home in Connecticut. She leaves her wife, Clair, their dog, Lincoln, four children, six grandchildren, three containers of sour cream, each half full, fourteen pairs of activity-specific sneakers, and a copy of the New York Times, open and folded to the crossword puzzle. I love you, Mom."

Reviewed by Pamela Kramer on May 14, 2021

That Summer
by Jennifer Weiner

  • Publication Date: April 5, 2022
  • Genres: Fiction, Women's Fiction
  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Washington Square Press
  • ISBN-10: 1501133551
  • ISBN-13: 9781501133558