The prologue to Emily Giffin’s novel, THE SUMMER PACT, opens with a reflection about the intensity of friendships forged in young adulthood: “I often wonder what makes our coming-of-age friendships so powerful… When it comes right down to it, I think it’s a simple matter of who was there by our side, bearing witness to our loss of innocence.” The narrator, Hannah, then recounts the formation of her own foundational friendships with Tyson, Lainey and Summer.

The four of them came to the University of Virginia from across the country. They had different majors and came from very different backgrounds; on paper, their friendship shouldn’t have made sense. But after one memorable Thursday night in their dorm’s study lounge early in their freshman year, they became inseparable for the next four years. That is, until just days before graduation, when a tragedy left Tyson, Lainey and Hannah shocked and bereft at the loss of their beloved Summer.

"THE SUMMER PACT is a great vacation read, filled with descriptions of wonderful food, fashion, breathtaking landscapes and, eventually, romance."

The three remaining friends made one another a promise, the pact of the novel’s title: If any of them ever arrive at a crisis or a crossroads, unable to see life clearly or to imagine going on, they should share it with the others, who will answer the call and come to help. No excuses, no questions asked.

Fast forward 10 years, and Hannah never would have imagined herself needing to invoke the Summer Pact. She is back in Atlanta, where she has found a steady job as an interior designer and is busy planning her wedding to Grady, whose wealthy family meets with the approval of Hannah’s mom. She’s eager to have Lainey be her maid of honor, even though she knows it would have been Summer had she lived. But when she walks in on Grady cheating on her with one of their mutual friends, Hannah is crushed. All she has ever really wanted is to be a wife and mother. How will she find domestic happiness in the wake of a devastating breakup in her 30s?

Hannah is reluctant to call Lainey and Tyson --- they’re both so busy --- but she does break down and spill the beans to Lainey, an actress who immediately cancels an upcoming audition to comfort Hannah. Lainey also spreads the word to Tyson, who uses this crisis as a reason to quit his stifling high-pressure law job and end his own romantic relationship, which hasn’t been working for a while. After dishing up some revenge to Grady, the three friends --- suddenly untethered by obligations --- make plans to go on the trip they had intended to take after graduation but never did. A visit to Texas to reunite Lainey with family goes horribly awry, but surely they’ll forget that drama in Capri, where Summer always wanted to visit.

THE SUMMER PACT is a great vacation read, filled with descriptions of wonderful food, fashion, breathtaking landscapes and, eventually, romance. It has just enough serious topics --- ranging from infidelity to suicide to alcoholism --- to lend its situations and characters heft and substance, and to make their eventual happy endings that much harder-won. And it has just enough escapist moments to make it an ideal choice to pick up this summer, whether you plan to read it on the beaches of Capri or in a hammock in your own backyard.