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Summer in the South

by Cathy Holton (Goodreads Author)

3.5 of 5 stars 3.50 · rating details · 751 ratings · 154 reviews

Cathy Holton, author of the popular "Beach Trip," returns with an intriguing and mysterious tale of dark deeds and family secrets in a small Southern town.
After a personal tragedy, Chicago writer Ava Dabrowski quits her job to spend the summer in Woodburn, Tennessee, at the invitation of her old college friend Will Fraser and his two great-aunts, Josephine and Fanny Woodb...more

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Published (first published January 1st 2011)

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Dec 27, 2012 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Being a fan of southern fiction, I had to give this one a try. I had a stack of books in my TBR pile, but this one caught and held my attention from the first page. The author does a great job of capturing the uniqueness of a southern small town (waving at everyone you see, revealing one's life story in line at the grocer). However, I never could find myself rooting for Ava. She seemed nosy, blunt and cold to me. Actually, I think this is the way southerners tend to view many non-southerners. It...more Being a fan of southern fiction, I had to give this one a try. I had a stack of books in my TBR pile, but this one caught and held my attention from the first page. The author does a great job of capturing the uniqueness of a southern small town (waving at everyone you see, revealing one's life story in line at the grocer). However, I never could find myself rooting for Ava. She seemed nosy, blunt and cold to me. Actually, I think this is the way southerners tend to view many non-southerners. It just isn't the way we do things. Therefore, I think the author does a great job in capturing the way non-southerners are viewed by others here (often unknowingly).
The mystery itself is vaguely interesting, but I kept wondering why, exactly, Ava really cared? In her relentless pursuit of finding the true killer of Charles Woodburn she questions other family members continuously. She also writes their family secrets down and intends to publish them. (Can you see why I find her so unlikeable?) I kept asking myself (over and over) why Ava even cared? These people were essentially strangers to her.
Another thing I found distracting was this quote: "They'd spend the summer driving around town picking up girls in a 1967 Corvette they'd bought at an auction. Jake was the worst. You didn't dare get into the back with him unless you wanted to come out with bruises and whisker burns all over your face and other places too embarrassing to mention." Think about it. A 1967 Corvette has no back seat.
So was all the hanky panky taking place- in the trunk? A minor detail, indeed, but very distracting.
I'm not saying I didn't like the book. It was a pretty good mystery and I was surprised at the outcome. However, I am not used to books where the main character is actually unlikable. Again, this is an excellent portrayal of how non-southerners appear to southerners. The author actually did an excellent job with this. It was a quick read, and not a bad one. At least it made me think.....
(less)

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Oct 15, 2012 Emily Barriball rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was hopefully expecting a lot more from this novel... While it's shallowly entertaining, I was left wanting after finishing it.

The protagonist, Ava, comes across as selfish, disrespectful, rude, etc. If people you don't know are giving you a room and board free of charge, it's usually accepted that you don't go barging into their private and painful personal histories like a bull in a china shop (and then write a book about it). What romance there was, was half-hearted and ill-thought out; in...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Book Concierge rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ava Dabrowski is in a bad relationship, and has a job she doesn’t enjoy. After her mother’s death she’s feeling particularly alone in her Chicago apartment. So when an old college friend offers her a chance to get away and spend the summer in Tennessee she quits her job and heads south. Will Fraser’s two great aunts live in the family’s large antebellum home in Woodburn, and offer Ava the kind of Southern hospitality that will give her a chance to relax and begin working on that novel she’s alwa...more

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Dec 25, 2011 drey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, fiction-contemporary

drey’s thoughts:
Summer in the South is a story about a young woman who’s trying to figure out her life–who she is and what she wants. She’s rallying though the loss of her mother and getting dumped by her lover, when a college friend offers her sanctuary at his family’s home in a small town in Tennessee.

Ava hopes the solitude will spark her creative juices and get her started on writing again. She hopes to find out about her roots, and reaches out to the man who might be her father. What she ge...more

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Dec 07, 2011 SenoraG rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, arc, blogcritics-review-book, fiction

Article first published as Book Review: Summer in the South by Cathy Holton on Blogcritics.

Summer in the South takes us to Woodburn, Tennessee. It is to Woodburn that Ava Dabrowski decides to go after an invitation from a college friend. A lot of things happened to Ava including the death of her mother, finding out her boyfriend is married and things not going so great at work. So she heads down to Woodburn for some R&R and a chance to work on her novel. She's not too keen on the South, but...more

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Oct 25, 2011 Cathi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summer in the South is a tale of a young writer from Chicago, Ava, who makes the decision to leave her job as a successful copy writer and take time to work on the one thing she has always wanted to do, write a novel. Invited to spend time with her long time friend from college, Will, she finds herself transported in time as she takes up residence in the small southern town of Woodburn, Tennessee. Ava moves in with Will's elderly aunts, Josephine and Fanny, and begins to learn the ways of this p...more

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Jun 30, 2011 Denise Cuenin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is a bit of ghost story, a bit of a nostalgic journey to the twenties and bit of something else. The main character is Ava, a thirty something woman who has just lost her big-city job in Chicago and is pretty disillusioned with her life choices. Her estranged mother has recently died unexpectedly and her love life is a mess. She takes up the offer of a college friend to spend the summer with his aunts in a rambling, old (haunted) house in a Tennessee town. All of her needs are met, and...more

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Jun 25, 2011 George King rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was sent a copy of this book, even though I didn't enter a giveaway contest. I was not familiar with the author, but I'm always open to new reading experiences.

Let me say first that Holton has talent as a writer. She describes characters and settings well and has an eye for detail. The atmosphere she creates in describing the small Southern town and the Woodburn estate is authentic and interesting. The premise of the novel is simple enough: Ava, who lives in Chicago, is invited by an old colle...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summer in the South: A Novel by Cathy Holton is a simmering summer read filled with romance and intrigue about long-buried pasts. Following the death of her mother, Ava joins a college friend, Will, at his ancestral home in Tennessee where he lives with two elderly aunts. In addition to coming to terms with her tumultuous relationship with her mother, Ava is looking for some time away to work on a novel. She did not, however, expect to find such rich content for her novel right in the home in wh...more Summer in the South: A Novel by Cathy Holton is a simmering summer read filled with romance and intrigue about long-buried pasts. Following the death of her mother, Ava joins a college friend, Will, at his ancestral home in Tennessee where he lives with two elderly aunts. In addition to coming to terms with her tumultuous relationship with her mother, Ava is looking for some time away to work on a novel. She did not, however, expect to find such rich content for her novel right in the home in which she spends the summer.

Will is part of an upstanding, well-to-do Southern family but although they maintain traditions like evening cocktails (Toddy Time) and host parties which require engraved invitations, there are secrets hidden in their past. This hint of scandal casts a shadow over the family but in typical Southern tradition no one discusses the less than perfect past. Although polite, everyone seems emotionally shut down while they try to keep everything under wraps.

Ava, however, does not bow to these traditions and is gradually unearthing parts of the family's past. As she learns more about the family's past, it inspires her to write and her novel begins to take shape. With Will's obvious romantic interest in her and the kindness offered by the aunts, Ava knows writing this novel will be viewed as a betrayal because it exposes what the family has worked so hard to keep buried. She can't, however, stem her need to get to the bottom of a mystery in the family's past.

This novel offers a peek into life in the South as it might have been 50 years ago. Although it takes place in the present, everyone lives as you might expect them to in the 1950's - no one seems to have a job and they retire to bed during the heat of midday. Toddy Time anchors their days and they certainly stand on ceremony. By moving at the slow pace of days gone by, the novel makes for a lovely summer respite and I found myself languishing in the charm of the South. It is interesting to watch the Northerner, Ava, adjust as she is dropped into this world of tradition, formality and a slower pace. The author tosses in some romantic tension between Will and Ava and the competing interests of another man in town to round out this summer read. For a quick trip back to the charm of South during the time of plantations and debuts, pick of Summer in the South: A Novel by Cathy Holton!(less)

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Jul 27, 2012 Shellys♥ Journal rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, fiction

Ava has professional success at a Chicago advertising firm, but not much personally. Now college friend,Will Fraser invites her to come south for the summer and work on her dream novel while living with his aunts in an historic southern mansion. As she learns more about Will's family, she sees a mystery that is weaving its way into her novel, a mystery the family doesn't want solved or revealed. Will she find the answers?

I started reading this thinking it would be a light chick lit kind of book...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Patty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Book summary...

Simply put...Ava's mother dies, Ava's involved in a relationship with her boss, Ava gets a letter from her unknown father, Ava wants to write a novel but feels tied down to her apartment, her job and her possessions. Ava reconnects with Will, an old college friend, who asks her to spend the summer in his sleepy Southern town. Ava would get free room and board and the opportunity to focus on what she has always wanted to do.
Ava's life has been a extraordinary one in that her mother...more Book summary...

Simply put...Ava's mother dies, Ava's involved in a relationship with her boss, Ava gets a letter from her unknown father, Ava wants to write a novel but feels tied down to her apartment, her job and her possessions. Ava reconnects with Will, an old college friend, who asks her to spend the summer in his sleepy Southern town. Ava would get free room and board and the opportunity to focus on what she has always wanted to do.
Ava's life has been a extraordinary one in that her mother was a bit of a free spirit and would change their addresses and names on a whim. Ava seeks security in her life because that is not what she received from her free spirited mom.
Ava gladly accepts Will's invitation.

My thoughts...

This wasn't a sleepy summer beach read for me. It was tense and ghostly and exciting. Will's old Southern family harbors many secrets...one of which is who killed Uncle Charlie. There are some ghostly otherworldly situations and Ava is determined to unravel some of the mystery.

The aunts and uncle she is staying with are wonderful Southern characters. Every day at five it is Toddy Time and soon after it is dinner. Will's uncle is literally addicted to the Food Channel and cooks every dinner from something he has seen. The aunts are sisters...one warm and friendly, the other a bit standoffish but everyone offers nothing but hospitality to Ava.

Unfortunately Will appears to want Ava in a more romantic way then she is capable of giving and this leads to some awkward moments especially when it seems that Ava is more interested in Will's cousin, Jake. Jake and Will do not get along due to a past incident.

Ava begins to write but it becomes more a story of Will's family secrets other than the novel that Ava had in mind at the beginning of the summer.

My feelings...

Loved this book. Loved the Southern charm and the Southern traditions and I loved all of the relationships...and trust me there were tons of them. Loved the mystery and loved the slow delightful unwrapping of it.

Just a beautiful beautiful book.(less)

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Aug 02, 2011 Donna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A first time read for this author, I enjoyed the story set in the South. I always love stories in this setting for some reason. This one is set in a small town near Nashville called Woodburn. I personally think it is really Franklin, TN where my husband and I have visited on a trip to see my grandson in Nashville. Franklin is a small town with so much history especially Civil War. From the author's descriptions of the town, it could very well be Franklin.

The main character, Ava, finds herself tr...more

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May 29, 2013 Connie Knight rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: readers who like Southern psychology in the characters

Recommended to Connie by: library

I enjoyed reading this book. It could have been a mystery, but the author didn't present the family-secrets plot as a mystery, more as a challenge to the summer guest, Ava.

Ava left her job in Chicago and acccepted the invitation from an old college friend, Will, to spend the summer in small-town Tennessee with his elderly relatives. Then she'd have time to work on her novel.

But the novel, to be based on her turbulent childhood with her restless, former-hippie mother, doesn't materialize. She bec...more

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Jun 15, 2011 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summer in the South tells the story about Ava. Everything in Ava's life seems to be going wrong all at the same time so when Will, an old friend from college, throws her a lifeline by inviting her to stay with his great-aunts in their house in the southern city of Woodburn. She goes there in hopes of finally working on and completely a novel. Once there she stumbles upon a family secret which no one will talk about. An idea sparks in her mind and a novel takes form as she tells the story of what...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Grace rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Rarely does a book make me this frustrated and angry.

Cathy Holton's new novel is about a "Yankee" who agrees to a college acquaintance's invitation to spend a summer, rent and expense free, living with his upper-class Southern great aunts in Tennessee. The main character, Ava, has lived a gypsy life with her former-hippie mother, and finds herself fascinated by the traditions and culture of the South. She also has always dreamed of becoming an author, and thinks of the trip as an opportunity to...more Rarely does a book make me this frustrated and angry.

Cathy Holton's new novel is about a "Yankee" who agrees to a college acquaintance's invitation to spend a summer, rent and expense free, living with his upper-class Southern great aunts in Tennessee. The main character, Ava, has lived a gypsy life with her former-hippie mother, and finds herself fascinated by the traditions and culture of the South. She also has always dreamed of becoming an author, and thinks of the trip as an opportunity to start that novel she has always meant to write. But like so many wannna be authors, when she sits down in her cozy guest room to actually start the work, she finds herself completely at a blank.

So what does she do? She decides to become fixated on the family history of the sweet older ladies who are showing her such courtesy and kindness. She finds out that one of the aunts had a first husband no one ever wants to talk about, and starts probing and digging around to find out what happened, even when she is specifically told by multiple people to MYOB and stop her questions. She befriends the backstabbing town gossip, who is all too happy to tell her tales. She tries to waylay the advances of the college acquaintance (a handsome fellow who apparently always had feelings for her) by repeating to him that they are just friends, while simultaneously making out with him, kissing, and even throwing fetes with him for his society friends. Even when told by several people that the assumption in the town is that they are "intended", she continues this hot and cold act with the poor guy. Of course she does...she still wants free room and board, and access to the attic, journals, and family memorabilia so she can continue to write her "fictional" tell-all exposing the women extending her their hospitality.

I could go on and on about how absolutely deplorable I found the character of Ava to be. Books with dislikeable protagonists work if the author makes it clear you aren't supposed to like them. But what killed me with this novel is that we're given no such sign. Apparently I was supposed to be cheering for Ava as she tried to destroy the lives of sweet southern ladies. Supposedly I was supposed to hope she would fall into the arms of Will's (her college friend) estranged rebel of a cousin.

Worst of all are the chapters in the book interspersed that tell the true story of what actually happened to lead to the mysterious death of the first husband. We find out that the story Ava has "discovered" and researched has led her to the entirely wrong conclusion, both about what sort of person the man was, and how he died. We also see just how traumatic an experience the entire relationship was for the entire family, and just how emotionally scarring it would be for the Aunts to have the tale dredged up again with the publication of Ava's piece of crap (and completely inaccurate) novel. We understand just why the family asked her to back off, and our sympathies are even further in their corner.

I work at a library where the bulk of our patrons are older men and women, or "oldsters" as we fondly call them. Through my line of work, I have heard the most wonderful stories, met the most amazing people, some of whom are three times my age. And with the respect for their stories and their lives comes a despair at how society ignores and rejects the wisdom they have to tell. The more selfish and disrespectful the younger generation becomes, the more I worry that the respect for our elders is fading faster and faster. This book only served to cement that idea, in the horrendous encouragement to cheer on a protagonist who is only "following her dream" and completely ruining the lives of many amazing older people in the process.

The story ends with Ava debating whether to publish her magnificent epic immediately, or wait until the Aunts die. Wow. What a winner. (less)

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Jul 17, 2011 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I expected this book to be a good summer read, and it was what I expected; not bad, but not great either. It wasn't too hard to keep track of what was happening, which a lot of the time was a whole lot of slow-paced, lazy day, heat-induced, dream-state, coma-like nothing.

I didn't really take away a sense of a ghost story, although there are bits that are meant that way. I didn't find this an intriguing mystery, although there was a death that wasn't really explained until the very end. The love...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Cheryl Gatling added it · review of another edition

One of the things that made me want to read this book (it wasn't the uninspired title) was a hint on the jacket that the family in the novel had once entertained Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Faulkner. Those names were only thrown out in passing, though, a way of showing that when you are a member of an old-money old Southern family, hobnobbing with the famous is really no big deal, hardly worth mentioning. Ava is a mutt from Chicago, raised by a rootless, single parent mother. When she accepts the...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Pamela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: southern-fiction, southern-lit-lovers-group-read, contempory-women-lit

"Summer in the South" was awesome...I didn't want to put this book down. I even kept trying to sneak and read it at work, it was so good. Ava Dabrowski is so over her life and horrible love life so when Will Fraser, an old college friend of hers, extends to her the opportunity to come down south for the summer and work on her novel, she jumps at the chance. After all, how often do you get to live in a "writer's like colony" for FREE! But, when she gets to Woodburn, she soon discovers that everyt...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Katy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Quirky story, sort of Southern gothic, but I couldn't put it down.

I once heard a friend lecture. In his lecture, he said, "A secret should remain a secret unless it makes a difference. Then, it should remain a secret unless a difference should be made." This quote came back to me often as I read this story. Ava, after facing a personal crisis, quits her job and travels for a summer in the south, at the invitation of a college friend and his family. She wants to devote her time to writing, but s...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: family-dynamics, southern-lit, gothic, historical-fiction

"Summer In The South" is a novel that I won't easily forget. This is probably due to the fact that I enjoyed this book so much when the main character was absolutely odious.

Don't be fooled into thinking that this is a just another typical book about an old southern family with lots of scandals and skeletons. There are many things about this novel that made it a stand out for me:
1. The main character is a Northerner with no "roots" living with a family who can trace their ancestry back hundred...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Beth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Updated: As I participated in the book group discussion, I realized I didn't even want to give this three stars...it may hit one, by the time it's over. I think the three stars were for the aunts. I've realized I don't like Ava, don't like Darlene, not crazy about Will or Jake...I like the cousin and the aunts and Maitland.

What would possess her to agree to sponge off of the great-aunts of a friend, not even a close friend, that you haven't spoken to in four years? Then, while living rent free,...more Updated: As I participated in the book group discussion, I realized I didn't even want to give this three stars...it may hit one, by the time it's over. I think the three stars were for the aunts. I've realized I don't like Ava, don't like Darlene, not crazy about Will or Jake...I like the cousin and the aunts and Maitland.

What would possess her to agree to sponge off of the great-aunts of a friend, not even a close friend, that you haven't spoken to in four years? Then, while living rent free, and being provided room and board, you decided to poke at all their private pain and personal family secrets, despite being told to STOP. You figure out the friend wants more than friendship, but you rationalize it all by saying "I told him we're just friends," and continue to take advantage of the hospitality (as if you couldn't have figured out before you quit your job and moved there that there was more to his feelings than charity). Then, you pick the ONE person that this friend cannot tolerate, who betrayed him, and you befriend him, and continue to pick at the family scabs. Then, wait for it, decide HE'S the one you want. Then you write your novel, based on this family tragedy and secret, but it's okay...you changed it from Tennessee to Colorado, and changed the names. You know they'll never forgive you, but you can live with that.

Nope. This woman makes one bad choice, after another...her life is a train wreck, and she takes this Southern family along for the ride. Will doesn't have things work out as he likes (bad choice in friends, Will), and he spends the last two-thirds of the book moping and sulking.

Too much going on...Ava's laboring on her novel, ghost story hints without any development or resolution, family tragedy, told in snippets, will-she-won't-she with Will, then Jake, then the side investment parties and toddy times and cocktail parties and barbeques, and the tales of "Bilt" back in the days of bathtub gin. Just to much to keep up with. I had trouble getting through it. Not poorly written, just too many sub-plots, plus my constantly being appalled at this girl's lack of good taste, decency, or common sense.(less)

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Jun 08, 2011 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The title really sets the stage for the basic premise of this story. Ava leaves behind a failed relationship and stale job at the invite of an old college friend to stay with his aunts for the summer to work on the novel she has always wanted to write. She hasn't seen Will Fraser for years, and remembers teasing him about the small southern town he hailed from while in college. Aunts Fanny and Josephine greet Ava with true southern hospitality while Uncle Maitland mans the bar at Toddy Time ever...more

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Sep 17, 2011 Nora rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I didn't love this novel, but I didn't dislike it either. I really didn't like the main characters Ava and Will. Ava was too nosy and inquisitive when it came to Will's family history and Will was too closed mouthed and secretive which drove Ava to outside sources. He was also too moody always wanting Ava to be someone she wasn't. I loved the Aunts and their friends. I can imagine myself enjoying "Toddy time" listening to the stories about their past. Over all the story was nice but the author l...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I absolutely LOVED this book. To me it was a cross between Fried Green Tomatoes and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. There was an old southern murder mystery from the early 1900's, a touch of romance, and the added struggle to find oneself. It kept my attention from the very first page on and when I wasn't reading I wanted to be, or I was thinking of the characters. The writing style even allowed us a peek into several secondary characters heads/lives. We received a few flashbacks that sh...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Kristy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. I love stories about the South; all of the food, history, culture and sweet tea that you could possibly want is at your fingertips. In this case, the story evolved by describing the past of the Woodburn's, a prominent family in Tennessee that the protagonist, Ava visits. Ava has been friends with Will Woodburn all through college and she receives the perfect opportunity to go down there and write, per Will's request. She stays at the Woodburn family estat...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: southern-us

As I read this book, it seemed so familiar to me. I finally figured out I had read a book review, months ago, in Book Page. It was a satisfying book to end summer with, it had a decent plot, especially the story within the story. Ava, the main character, travels to Tennessee to spend the summer with a friend's family, and try her hand at her first novel. The summer helps her discover who she is, which turns out to be very different than who she thought she was. All in all, it was a very enjoyabl...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Amy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not the greatest book that I've read but not bad - this was definitely one that looked interesting per the cover when I was at the library (of course none of the books I WANT to read have come in yet despite putting them on hold weeks ago....) Anyhow - it had some mystery and intrigue to it which is enough for me as I'm not a huge mystery fan. As someone new to the South, it was intresting to hear how the author describes the heat and humidty - something I can't seem to get away from these days....more

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Feb 10, 2012 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book. It was very atmospheric and I managed to lose myself in the slightly claustrophobic feel. I loved the eccentric characters - the Miss Haversham like Aunts, and Maitland, the courtly, cocktail pouring Uncle - all so odd and endearing, but chilling at the same time. Leading their narrow, circumscribed lives now, but having been world traveling, well connected and sophisticated in their younger years. My only slight criticism is that I found our "heroine" Ava a little an...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Debra rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Slow and sultry as a southern summer, this book is full of Southern Gothic. Ava flees her bizarre past to try to write as a houseguest, not really expecting to be intrigued by the equally bizarre and mysterious past of her hosts.

The first half of the book was difficult for me to get interested in. Despite enjoying Holton's previous books, part of me was voting for giving up. Once the scene was laboriously set, however, elements fall into place. I really did enjoy the last half of the book. (And...more

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May 29, 2011 Doreen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Sally, Diane, Iris, Laura, Cathy, Sara

Recommended to Doreen by: won it here, on Goodreads!

Shelves: goodreads-giveaways

I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway. What a fascinating book! The story begins in Tennessee, in the 1930's. It centers on a particularly wealthy, WASP family, who has lived in the area for many generations. This family is the picture of the old South: perfect manners, unwavering hospitality, and proud pedigree. Of course there's always the flip side to these old Southern aristocrats: illegitimate children, underhanded business dealings, and secrets about members referred to as 'black sh...more

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About Cathy Holton

Cathy Holton continues to entertain readers with her stories of strong, intelligent women trying to survive in an often hostile world. The Boston Globe says “Holton has a lively, fluid style that shifts easily among the viewpoints’ of several characters and goes down as easily as sweet tea,” while Entertainment Weekly calls her prose “Sharp, witty, and warm.”

Although grateful for the critical pra...more

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Books by Cathy Holton

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Trivia About Summer in the South

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Quotes from Summer in the South

“I can’t just open myself up the way some people can. And down here, you’re raised a certain way. You’re taught to keep some things private, family matters especially. It’s just the way it’s done."

"Everyone worships the past but no one really wants to talk about it.” — 4 people liked it

“Everyone has a different story, and you have to ask yourself what motivates people to see reality the way they do.” — 3 people liked it

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title link	preview: Summer in the South
avg rating	preview: Summer in the South Goodreads rating: 3.50 (751 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10407969-summer-in-the-south?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328313619l/10407969.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10407969-summer-in-the-south?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Summer in the South by Cathy Holton[/url]

Summer in the South

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