I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for historical novel, Summer of Love by Caro Fraser, the sequel to The Summer House Party. I was lucky enough to interview Caro as part of the blog tour for The Summer House Party and you can find her thoughts on that book here. I loved her summary of the book as ‘a blend of wartime romance and intrigue, ration books, spam , and a bit of sex!’
Now let’s turn our attention to Summer of Love. You can read my review below. Do check out the other book bloggers taking part in the tour.
About the Book
The dark days of the war are over, but the family secrets they held are only just dawning.
In the hot summer of 1949, a group of family and friends gather at Harry Denholm’s country house in Kent. Meg and Dan Ranscombe, emerging from a scandal of their own making; Dan’s godmother, Sonia; and her two young girls, Laura and Avril, only one of whom is Sonia’s biological daughter. Amongst the heat, memories, and infatuations, a secret is revealed to Meg’s son, Max, and soon a terrible tragedy unfolds that will have consequences for them all.
Afterwards, Avril, Laura and Max must come of age in a society still reeling from the war, haunted by the choices of that fateful summer. Cold, entitled Avril will go to any lengths to take what is hers. Beautiful, naive Laura finds refuge and love in the London jazz clubs, but Max, with wealth and unrequited love, has the capacity to undo it all.
Format: Hardcover, ebook (512 pp.) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 31st May 2018 (ebook), 12th July (hardcover) Genre: Historical Fiction
Pre-order/Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com ǀ Kobo | Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme
Find Summer of Love on Goodreads
My Review
Summer of Love is billed as a standalone sequel to Caro Fraser’s earlier book, The Summer House Party. It definitely can be read as a standalone but if, like me, you still have a lovely copy of The Summer House Party sitting unread on your bookshelf, be aware that the opening pages of Summer of Love reveal a lot of what transpired in the first book. For this reason I would recommend that, if you intend to read The Summer House Party, you read it before Summer of Love.
The book opens in a country house in Kent in a seemingly idyllic setting. However, somehow you know that the complicated history of those gathered there and the secrets some of them possess mean all will not end well. Early on in Summer of Love, one of the characters remarks, ‘The past is the past.’ But how easy is it to consign unpalatable events and actions to the past? Not easy it turns out because before long a comment made in a moment of cruelty reveals a secret from the past that sets in motion a chain of events that will end in tragedy. This will open up wounds that seemingly may never be healed, setting a pattern for later events in which actions have unintended consequences creating rifts that will endure for years.
The main focus of the book is the younger members of the family – Max, Avril and Laura – as they navigate life beyond school and family and the transition from childhood to adulthood. The dynamic between the three of them is complicated and has a bearing on what follows. In wider society, times are changing although, in certain aspects of life and social attitudes, rather slowly it seems. Laura is the character most directly affected by this and it is her story that I found the most compelling.
The author skilfully evokes the London of the 1950s and 1960s but focused on a particular section of society. It’s a world of drink, drugs, increasing sexual freedom, wild parties, avant garde art and basement jazz clubs. I loved the references to and occasional walk-on parts by now well-known figures in the world of art, poetry, music and film.
I can’t say that I found myself caring about the main characters in Summer of Love, except perhaps Laura who came across as the most likeable. I was also shocked by some of their attitudes and prejudices and the decisions they make as a result, which reflects perhaps how far we have come as a society since the events depicted. However, I was certainly gripped by the stories of their lives and eager to learn how events would play out for them.
Summer of Love is a compelling depiction of how secrets, even those hidden for years, will eventually find their way into the light. As one character in the book perceptively observes, ‘Pretending was the worst part. A lie happened on its own, but pretending – pretending went on and on.’ It shows how small actions, albeit well-intentioned, can have unintended and long-lasting consequences. And it asks the question: “Must people go on suffering for their mistakes for ever?”
I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Head of Zeus, in return for an honest and unbiased review. Summer of Love is the fourth book in my 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge.
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In three words: Compelling, intense, atmospheric
Try something similar…That Summer in Puglia by Valeria Vescina (read my review here)
About the Author
Caro Fraser was born in Carlisle and educated at the Glasgow High School For Girls and the Buchan School in the Isle of Man. After attending Watford School of Art she had a brief career as a copywriter, then studied law at King’ College, University of London. She then read for the Bar and became a barrister specialising in shipping law before retiring from her law practice to concentrate on writing.
She is the author of the bestselling Caper Court novels, based on her own experiences as a lawyer. She is the daughter of Flashman author George MacDonald Fraser and lives in London.
Connect with Caro
Website ǀ Facebook ǀ Goodreads
The Half-Hearted was written in 1899 and published in September 1900 by Isbister & Co Ltd. However, it had first appeared in serial form (in thirty-three parts) earlier that year in Good Words, a magazine also published by Isbister. Hodder & Stoughton published a new edition of The Half-Hearted in 1920.
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