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The Book of Summers

3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 · rating details · 625 ratings · 170 reviews

For nine-year-old Beth Lowe, it should have been a magical summer--sun-kissed days lounging in rickety deck chairs, nights gathered around the fire. But what begins as an innocent vacation to Hungary ends with the devastating separation of her parents. Beth and her father return home alone, leaving her mother, Marika, behind.Over the next seven summers, Beth walks a tightr...more

Hardcover, 324 pages

Published March 1st 2012 by Headline Review (first published January 1st 2012)

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May 31, 2012 Blair rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: past-and-present, read-on-kindle, via-netgalley, 2012-release

I am giving this a generous rating, because I'm in a generous mood, and the weather has been beautiful lately (although I say this just as the temperature has dropped 10 degrees and it's started raining), and this book - as the title would suggest - is perfect for long, hot, sunny days.

Beth (short for Erzsébet) is an ordinary single woman of about 30, living in London with a scatty flatmate and a nice job in an art gallery. Her life seems fairly uneventful, but we know from the beginning that sh...more I am giving this a generous rating, because I'm in a generous mood, and the weather has been beautiful lately (although I say this just as the temperature has dropped 10 degrees and it's started raining), and this book - as the title would suggest - is perfect for long, hot, sunny days.

Beth (short for Erzsébet) is an ordinary single woman of about 30, living in London with a scatty flatmate and a nice job in an art gallery. Her life seems fairly uneventful, but we know from the beginning that she has long-buried secrets, exemplified by an awkward meeting with her father. He visits Beth because she has been sent a package he thinks is important: it turns out to be a scrapbook compiled by her estranged mother, Marika, and brings with it the news that Marika has passed away. This revelation, combined with the collection of old photos contained within the scrapbook, prompt Beth to look back on the summers she spent with her mother in Hungary between the ages of ten and sixteen.

I started this thinking it was either going to be an absolutely brilliant read and a book I'd fall in love with, or that it would turn out to be mushy chick-lit rubbish and I'd hate it. In fact, I was wrong on both counts. I didn't find The Book of Summers as enthralling as I hoped I might, but it's certainly not sentimental trash. It's a detailed exploration of childhood, nostalgia and family, focusing mainly on Beth's relationship with her passionate, unpredictable mother: there's also Beth's first romance with Tamás, the 'boy next door' in Hungary. The mystery of the story lies in why Beth stopped visiting Hungary, and why she has not spoken to Marika since the summer she was sixteen. I had no idea whatsoever what the twist was going to be, and the gradually building tension throughout the chapters made my interest in finding out increase dramatically as the book's climax neared. I have to say I was a bit disappointed by what the big secret actually was after all that anticipation, although the author did an excellent job of avoiding any spoilers or clues in the rest of the narrative.

The language is enormously evocative - in particular, the contrast between romantic Hungary and (to the young Beth) dreary England is portrayed very effectively - but it's also excessively florid. It took me quite a while to get used to this, especially as Beth is extremely fond of fleshing out the details of unknown situations in her own imagination, and adding descriptive flourishes that really aren't needed. Certain portions of the dialogue are so inauthentic as to be cringeworthy - I'm thinking particularly of the recalled conversation between Beth and Justin, which stood out like a sore thumb for me even though it's a very short exchange. And, of course - as I knew it would - the book just has to end with (view spoiler).

The Book of Summers is a charming first novel, rich with atmosphere and nostalgic detail. My advice, though, is to read this in a park on a sunny day, or by the pool on holiday... I just don't think its dreamy, hazy recreation of childhood summer days would have captivated me quite so much without the real-life backdrop to match. A book of summers, then, but also a book for summer. (less)

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May 03, 2013 Lightblue rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Profumo di Ungheria
Il bello di questo libro è la grande capacità dell'autrice di descrivere un Paese, l'Ungheria, con le sue tradizioni, profumi, odori e colori, con una delicatezza e un'intensità davvero straordinarie. Sembra di essere lì, nell'afa dell'estate, assieme alla piccola Ezri, nel mezzo tra due culture diversissime: quella inglese e quella ungherese, mentre affronta i piccoli grandi drammi dell'infanzia e dell'adolescenza. La protagonista, infatti, è figlia di un inglese distinto e c...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Sharon Goodwin rated it 5 of 5 stars

While Beth is sitting in Victoria Park, London, the reader journeys alongside her into those six summers of visits to Hungary interspersed with moments of reality. We are completely immersed in the world as it was at that time. Those sun-drenched summers are portrayed with life and zest. Beth often compares herself to her mother as she tries to find her own place of belonging. The writing is evocative and the author uses figurative language to draw the reader’s imagination (I loved Hall’s writin...more While Beth is sitting in Victoria Park, London, the reader journeys alongside her into those six summers of visits to Hungary interspersed with moments of reality. We are completely immersed in the world as it was at that time. Those sun-drenched summers are portrayed with life and zest. Beth often compares herself to her mother as she tries to find her own place of belonging. The writing is evocative and the author uses figurative language to draw the reader’s imagination (I loved Hall’s writing style). As each year Beth is older, the author captures exactly the growth of the child from the innocence of the early days to the hedonistic teenager.

It is such a vibrant world. I experienced a different culture and so was also able to expand my own horizons. It is clear that the author has spent time in Hungary and has drawn on her own experiences.

The other characters – Zoltan, her mother’s partner; Tamas, the boy next door; were very real to me. Emylia Hall magically weaves their personalities from their actions – we are shown rather than told, which if you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know I love!

I didn’t see the crisis coming! Of course we know something brutal happens from the synopsis but not only was I so caught up in the experience of those Hungarian summers, I would never have been able to predict what was coming. There is only one clue to what it could be but the author cleverly drops this in at a very emotional moment when the reader isn’t concentrating on the why, only what is. I was stunned. I cried. I think this shows how emotionally involved I was in this world!

The sadness of the book coming into Beth’s life is the timing.

“How would it have been, if things had been different?” Beth asks her father.

The beauty of the book is that it unlocks Beth’s soul and allows her to reclaim a large part of her childhood that had previously been lost.

“Sometimes if you don’t go backwards, you can’t move forwards” Marika once said when she was trying to explain why she’d returned to Hungary.

The truths and honesty her father shares with her also allow for the healing to take place… so alongside the bone-aching sorrow is the chance to become whole.

I predict The Book of Summers will become widely read both at an individual level and with book groups. I will certainly be looking out for other novels by this author.

I read this uncorrected proof as part of The Real Readers programme.(less)

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Mar 25, 2013 Myrna rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this story of Beth also known as Erzie. The story is told in a series of flashbacks that begin when her father brings her a package that has arrived from Hungary addressed to Beth in her Hungarian name. The unopened package causes an explosive reaction in Beth and begins a mystery that will slowly unravel as the reader is drawn into the story. The location of Beth's flashback's switch dramatically from staid proper England to sultry colorful Hungary. For six summers, Beth travel...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Laraemilie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Book of Summers caught my eye a long time ago, on the Waterstones' shelf, along with other summer reads. The back cover promised a trip to exotic Hungary, full of vivid descriptions and family mysteries and I must admit that, after eventually finishing it, I am rather disappointed.
Everything starts in England, when Beth receives a letter from Hungary, telling her that her mother Marika has died. With it comes the Book of Summers, which contains photographs of the seven wonderful holidays she...more The Book of Summers caught my eye a long time ago, on the Waterstones' shelf, along with other summer reads. The back cover promised a trip to exotic Hungary, full of vivid descriptions and family mysteries and I must admit that, after eventually finishing it, I am rather disappointed.
Everything starts in England, when Beth receives a letter from Hungary, telling her that her mother Marika has died. With it comes the Book of Summers, which contains photographs of the seven wonderful holidays she spent in Hungary, before a tragic event put an end to this wonderful time.
In the first few pages already, we know that Marika has died. Most of the novel consists then of memories of Beth's life in England for a short time with both her parents, of her father and her in England and of her holiday in Hungary. Each chapter starts with the description of a picture, which reminds her of the summer it was taken and everything she experienced then, from the discovery of her mother's life and her first love.
As I expected, there are numerous descriptions of the places she visits. However, I felt that it was sometimes too much; too many adjectives in one sentence and, above all, the same places described several times. The advantage is that I have a precise image of Villa Serena, but I felt like the story was not really going anywhere, that everything was slow and that Beth did not really do much during the summer. It took me weeks to read it and unfortunately only the last third of the book really held my interest. The promise of a secret made me finish it: I wanted to know why Beth stopped going to Hungary, did not see her mother anymore and why everything changed. I must say that this twist in the plot was rather unexpected and Emylia Hall did not leave any clues which would enable the reader to guess the secret in the first chapters.
The setting is wonderful, but somehow artificial because we only get to know Beth through her summers in Hungary and we get to know people through her own eyes. It felt strange not to know much about her life in England, where she spends most of the time, and to have so many details about her yearly stay with her mother. In the same way, her relationships did not seem extremely realistic, probably because they were too stereotypical – a father with whom she cannot talk, an exotic and attractive mother, a wonderful boy she falls in love with at first sight and keeps loving through the years, although she only sees him a few weeks every year... I would have liked to know more about her feelings, because I do not have the impression that I got to know her at all, despite the three hundred pages I spent by her side.
While the beginning is slow, the end is rather quick. From the moment Beth discovers the secret that changes her life, everything moves on rapidly and we do not have time to think about her actions or the consequences of the decisions the characters made. The last pages are a little too romantic and unreal for my liking, but I enjoyed the fact that the author left it (rather) open and that everybody can have his own interpretation of what is going to happen.
Altogether, The Book of Summers did not live up to my expectations. I liked the general idea, the descriptions of Hungarian landscape, the way the story is built and the discovery of the secret, but the lack of balance disturbed me. I felt that everything was to descriptive while the story was not really going anywhere, that Beth's relationships to the other characters were artificial and that to understand her better and get to like her more, we would have needed to know more about her English life as well in order to compare it with her Hungarian summers. Nevertheless, it is Emylia Hall's first novel, a nice and easy summer read, and she will probably refine her style in her next publications. (less)

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Dec 31, 2012 Myron Brown rated it 3 of 5 stars

Beth, a 30 year English woman, is receives a scrapbook chronicling the visits to her mother in Hungary she made from the age of 10 until 16, when she learned of a secret that caused her to end the visits. After she learns of her mother's death she revisits her memories of the summers and gets a fresh perspective of the times she spent with her mother. The strength of The Book of Summers is the description of the Hungarian countryside, which carries you along Beth's journey. While the story is co...more

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Sep 20, 2012 Lareesa rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is fantastic.

It starts in London, the city I will always be involved in a love affair with, which is always a good omen. Beth is a woman in her late 20s who works at an art gallery and lives in a spacious if rickety flat with her roommate Lily. The story really begins with an awkward visit from her father, during which he presents her with a package he received from Hungary addressed to her.

Beth immediately recognizes the handwriting on the package as that of her estranged mother's p...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What were your summer days like?

For Beth, looking back to her puberscent summers spent in far-flung Hungary with her now estranged mother Marika, all she sees is a sea of grief and loss. But when Marika dies, Beth receives a book called the Book of Summers. Detailing their six summers spent together, the Book of Summers is Marika's last attempt to patch things up with Beth. The onus is on Beth to lay to rest old hurts and to finally make peace with the woman she called Mother.

This book had me f...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Naomi rated it 2 of 5 stars

One of the most boring books I've read in a while, I would only recommend it if you have insomnia. The setting in Hungary is interesting but everything is over-described. It's not even things that have relevance to the plot, ordinary everyday objects get 2 or 3 adjectives. Some of the descriptive passages are lovely but they are drowned out. It's not helped by the narrator being a selfish spoilt brat. Even though it's written in 1st person there's rarely any indication of emotion. For instance w...more

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May 30, 2012 Cheryl rated it 5 of 5 stars

When Beth was just nine years old, she and her father left their mother, Marika in Hungary and returned to England. Marika told Beth that Hungary was her home.Beth was devasted. However, Beth was able to visit her mother every summer.Beth and Marika looked forward to these summers. They shared laughes, love, and heartache. This changed when during one summer, Beth learned a secret that her mother had been keeping from her. A secret that tore them apart forever.

The Book of Summers is Mrs. Hall's...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Suzanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

When Beth Lowe receives a parcel containing a scrapbook entitled The Book of Summers, the door to her childhood past is wrenched open. It is stuffed with photographs and mementos complied by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth spent in rural Hungary. It was a time when she trod the tightrope between separated parents and two very different countries, her bewitching but imperfect Hungarian mother and her gentle, reticent English father. It was also a time that came to t...more

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Mar 24, 2012 lifeinsomniac rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: For anyone that believes in second chances and that it's never too late.

This book was an absolute surprise for me. Taking place in both present and past times, spanning across countries, we follow Beth Lowe as she looks through a scrapbook sent from an old friend, and created by her estranged mother. This book, called The Book of Summers, unlocks everything from 6 years she spent in Hungary, and the time surrounding it. The Book of Summers doesn’t only unlock those moments, they unlock a young Beth, and other feelings, and thoughts Beth thought she had left behind.

E...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Linda Rollins rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Book of Summers is about a woman called Beth who receives a package from Hungary. Initially upset by its arrival, and angry at her father for delivering it to her, the reader is treated to a slow and intricate revelation of its content.

This is a gentle and poetic book with detailed descriptions which carry you off to a place far away – unless of course you already live in Hungary. Emylia Hall takes the mundane and trivial and turns them into something magical.

Photographs from childhood holid...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Aine O'Callaghan rated it 4 of 5 stars

The plot of this debut novel develops slowly. Summers spent with the absentee parent- it’s something we’ve heard before. The kind but distant father and the flighty impulsive mother- well, there’s nothing strange there. It’s comforting and the character development keeps you interested so that you’re never bored but you’re not exactly devouring the pages either. At times the plot is dangerously close to being completely taken over by excessive descriptive imagery and you find yourself skimming c...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars

All week I've been carrying The Book of Summers with me, and opening it whenever I could so that I could be transported into another world.

First there was London, where thirty-year old Beth worked in an art gallery and lived a quiet life. The details of her world, her life, her situation were so well drawn that I was pulled in straight away.

Beth's equilibrium was disturbed by a visit from her father. They had been close when she was a child and he was bringing her up alone, she remembered that w...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Emylia Hall debuts her first novel in the form of The Book of Summers.
The Book of Summers centres around 30 year old Beth Lowe. Beth is given the news that her mother has died, but at the same time receives a mysterious parcel.
Inside this parcel is a home made scrap book, containing photographs and memories that derive from the seven summers that she spent in Hungary as a child.
Through this scrap book Beth is made to confront her painful memories from her childhood.

"The Book of Summers is a stor...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Marleen rated it 5 of 5 stars

“I realized then that I’d tried so hard to forget the big things, that all the little things had gone too.”

For twenty years Beth Low has suppressed memories of her mother, Marika, and Hungary. Then her father visits her in London and gives her a package with Hungarian stamps on it. Inside she finds a letter, telling her that Marika has died and an album filled with photos. Photos capturing the seven summers during with Beth visited Hungary.
Beth isn’t sure that she wants to revisit the past she...more “I realized then that I’d tried so hard to forget the big things, that all the little things had gone too.”

For twenty years Beth Low has suppressed memories of her mother, Marika, and Hungary. Then her father visits her in London and gives her a package with Hungarian stamps on it. Inside she finds a letter, telling her that Marika has died and an album filled with photos. Photos capturing the seven summers during with Beth visited Hungary.
Beth isn’t sure that she wants to revisit the past she has so successfully forgotten, but once she opens the book, twenty year old memories come flooding back, unstoppable and precise, not a single detail forgotten. Memories of the time when she was still called Erzsebeth, Erzsi for short. Memories of when she was nine and she went to Hungary with her parents for the first time. Hungary, the home her mother had to flee as a child and the place she couldn’t leave for a second time. Memories of the summers she spent visiting her mother and the new man in her life, the painter Zoltan Karoly, a loud man, larger then life.. And memories of the rest of her years, living a very different life in England with her quiet and withdrawn father.
Summer after summer, Erzsi grows up from a child into a teenager, experiencing her first love, first kiss and first glass of wine during the short time she gets to stay in Hungary every year.
And then the last summer. The summer her love for Tamas ran deeper than ever and the year she decided that she too would leave England and make her future in Hungary. The summer of the bombshell that rocked her life and everything she thought was true. The summer that spelt the end of her holidays in Hungary, the end of every contact with Marika and the end of Erzsi.

This book turned out to be one of those unexpected treasures we are lucky enough to come across occasionally. Written in beautiful, descriptive words and sentences it delivers a story filled with love, heartbreak and totally human and fallible characters. Characters with enough depth, faults and good qualities to make them real. There are times you want to embrace them, slap them or just scream at them, because you want the course of their lives to be different from what it is, because you care enough about them to want better for them.
This is a book laden with detail yet never boring or overly informative. It feels as the narrator is describing memories as they come back to her, stating the details as much for her own as benefit as for us, the readers. A picture, at times of photographic clarity, is painted with words that ring true and gently push the reader forward to whatever may be happening next.
It is clear from reading this book that the author has spent a lot of time in Hungary herself. She captures the landscape, the smells and the tastes of the country in vivid detail and with obvious love. A love she’s kind enough to share with the reader.

This would make a wonderful book for a reading group discussion for a multitude of reasons I can’t share here without spoiling the story for those who haven’t read it yet.
(less)

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Feb 18, 2012 Gill Chedgey rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Book of Summers
Emylia Hall

Reading a debut novel is sometimes like opening a new jar of coffee, an experience to be savoured, a promise of things to come.
The Book of Summers is Emylia Hall’s debut novel. The title gives little away other than a seasonal hint. But the book is a tale of growing up, coming of age, of wanting and getting and getting and not wanting.
It’s a colourful, vibrant narrative that contrasts a somewhat staid routine England with a Bohemian, natural Hungary. There are times...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Patty rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is magical, sad, tragic and redemptive all wrapped up in a love story to Hungary. A country about which, I must admit, I know very little. As the tale begins we meet Beth Lowe, a somewhat constrained and shall I say it, boring, young English woman with a very poor relationship with her father. He is coming to visit and the reader can tell she is oh so hopeful for more between them. But he comes not to see her but to deliver a package from Hungary - a package full of memories Beth would...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Ellie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary

Beth received a parcel from Hungary. It brings with it news of her estranged mothers death and a scrapbook, entitled The Book of Summers full of memories of her childhood summers spent with her mother in Hungary all those years ago. As she turns the pages, she reminisces and tells the story of how she went from Erzsébet to Beth.

From line to line, it is beautifully written, creating the perfect picture of summers in Hungary. I did however find it slow to get into. The combination of descriptive p...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Andrea Guy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, netgalley, women-s-fiction

This book was not what I expected in some ways. It was an emotional read and beautifully written. I know that I'll want to read more by Emylia Hall in the future.

All that said, much of the story bothered me because Emylia didn't give anything away until the very end.

All we know going in is that Beth has a so so relationship with her father and Marika has died and her husband/lover Zoltan has sent a package to Beth who neither had seen in 14 years.

This is where things get tricky.

Beth starts to lo...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Emylia Hall's debut novel The Book of Summers reads as a fairytale without the conventional use of make believe. Reality is twisted into fiction, creating a beautiful, and most importantly readable, hybrid.

The story begins with (and is all about) Beth, who has been given an unwelcome package from her father. Upon opening said package The Book of Summers is revealed to her, as well as some sad news. This causes her to reflect on her childhood and the seven summer vacations she spent in Hungary....more

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Feb 19, 2012 Jo at Jaffareadstoo rated it 5 of 5 stars

The summers of our childhood pass by in misty recollection, and yet for Beth Lowe the memories of her special summers as a child in Hungary are something to be concealed. When a package is given to her along with some devastating news, Beth needs to find inner strength in order to face the demons of her past. The package reveals the Book of Summers lovingly compiled by her mother, Marika, and recalling the summers of Beth’s childhood between the ages of 10 and 16, when Beth left her home in Devo...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Andreia Silva rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: leituras-de-2012, parceria

Antes de mais tenho de referir que a pontuação deste livro é mais um 3.5 do que propriamente 3! Estive muito dividida nas estrelas a atribuir mas acho que as 3 são mais do que merecidas. À primeira impressão, este é um livro simples, sem grandes momentos de acção, sem muitas personagens nem teias de enredos entre as mesmas. E é simples, mas não deixa de ter dentro dele uma grande dose de emoção.

Fala-nos da Beth ou da Erzsi (em húngaro) que após a separação dos pais passa a ficar dividida entre u...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Emylia Hall's debut novel; The Book of Summers was inspired by her own childhood summers. Just like the lead character Beth, her father was English and her mother Hungarian, and like Beth, she spent her summers in Hungary.

The novel opens as Beth receives a parcel, sent by her Mother's partner from Hungary. The receipt of the parcel evokes strong feelings for Beth - it is many years since she last saw her mother Marika and her memories are not good.

When eventually Beth opens the parcel, she disco...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Glenys rated it 5 of 5 stars

`Beth Lowe has been given a package. Inside is a letter informing her that her long estranged mother has dies, and a scrapbook Beth has never seen before. Entitled The Book of Summers, it`s stuffed with photographs and mementos compiled by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth spent in rural Hungary.

It was a time when she trod the tightrope between separated parents and two very different countries, her bewitching but imperfect Hungarian mother, and her gentle, reticent...more `Beth Lowe has been given a package. Inside is a letter informing her that her long estranged mother has dies, and a scrapbook Beth has never seen before. Entitled The Book of Summers, it`s stuffed with photographs and mementos compiled by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth spent in rural Hungary.

It was a time when she trod the tightrope between separated parents and two very different countries, her bewitching but imperfect Hungarian mother, and her gentle, reticent English father; the dazzling house of a Hungarian artist and an empty-feeling cottage in deepest Devon. And it was the time that came to the most brutal of ends the year Beth turned sixteen.

Since then, Beth hasn`t allowed herself to think about those days of her childhood. But the arrival of The Book of Summers brings the past tumbling back to the present; as vivid, painful and vital as ever`

Well, I have to put my cards on the table here, and say that when I received this book for review, my immediate thought was that it wasn`t really my type of read,so initially picked it up with some reluctance. How wrong can someone be? I have just eagerly finished it now, neglecting the family, and all but the most essential of tasks, as I was totally spellbound...what a wonderful, descriptive book, where even the most `ordinary` of actions is beautifully worded and is made to come alive.

Each summer Beth spent in Hungary (seven altogether), are wonderfully described, and you are struck throughout by the contrast between her all too brief stays there, and the rest of the year spent with her reserved father. I felt I came to know all the characters, but I was still caught out as to the reason it all fell apart for Beth, when she was sixteen.

I found it absorbing, and affecting, and as the book blurb itself says, it`s about the lies we tell, the truths that remain, and the things we must do to keep loving each other.

Wonderful read, I didn`t want to end- surely a sign of a great book!

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Sep 28, 2012 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a quick and compelling read, very atmospheric - the coming-of-age tale of a girl torn between two worlds. Erszi is the daughter of a separated couple, a quiet, reserved English father and a passionate, artistic Hungarian mother. However, gradually it becomes apparent that all the characters involved are more complex than the national sterotypes on the surface.

The story unfolds in retrospect after heroine Erzsi is sent a scrapbook of photographs compiled by her long-estranged mother, Mar...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Marie desJardins rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm torn between giving this book a 3 and a 4. I really liked how it was written, and some of the portrayals of place and character. But I just didn't buy the core premise. (view spoiler)...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Zarina rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Book of Summers is the debut novel of UK writer Emylia Hall. However, you wouldn't know this if it weren't mentioned in the little bio in the front, as it's beautifully written and non-stop engaging. The book has a lot more depth than the cute flowery Summer-read the cover suggests it to have.

30 year-old Beth lives in London and spends most of her time in the art gallery where she works. She leads a bit of a lonely life but seems reasonably content with that. Until an unexpected visit from h...more The Book of Summers is the debut novel of UK writer Emylia Hall. However, you wouldn't know this if it weren't mentioned in the little bio in the front, as it's beautifully written and non-stop engaging. The book has a lot more depth than the cute flowery Summer-read the cover suggests it to have.

30 year-old Beth lives in London and spends most of her time in the art gallery where she works. She leads a bit of a lonely life but seems reasonably content with that. Until an unexpected visit from her father forces her to look at her past and reconsider some of the choices she's made. Her father, a man of few words, doesn't normally pop over from Devon unexpectedly so even before his arrival she already instinctively knows that something is wrong. This is confirmed when he shows her a package that came in the mail, one covered in foreign stamps.

Inside of it is a photobook chronicling the seven summers Beth spent in Hungary with her mother. As Beth turns the pages of the Book of Summers, the reader is transported into another place and time. Hall's account of the Hungarian countryside and people is extremely vivid and she makes the hot and exotic Summers sound magical and inviting, while the lush descriptions of the peppered food and homemade lemonade make mouths water. Throughout the years Beth, or Erzsi as she was known back then, changes from and innocent child into a teenager with conflicted emotions as she is torn between her bland life in England and the colourful Summer holidays in Hungary.

The big twist near the end of the novel doesn't leave as much of an impact as is intended, but that's okay. For me, this wasn't a novel about secret and intrigue or about finding out why Beth hasn't spoken to her mother in all these years. On the contrary. It was a story of rediscovery and finding out what's significant in the here and now. Even if this means realising that perhaps some decisions made in the past were not the right ones. You can reminiscence on the past but you can only change the course of your life in the present.

I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading The Book of Summers, it really is an exceptional debut. Far from the frolicky chick-lit I was expecting, it is a gem of a novel which I am ever so glad came into my mail box for review purposes as I probably wouldn't have known about the title otherwise. (less)

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Nov 10, 2012 Lauri rated it 4 of 5 stars

My mom gave me this book for my birthday and while I found it slow going in the beginning, I ended up really enjoying it. It is the story of a woman who receives a scrapbook containing pictures of her during each childhood visit she made to her mother in Hungary. They became estranged when the girl was a teen and she had not seen her mother or accepted any correspondence from her in the intervening years.

This book is beautifully written, using very poetic prose that made it easy for me to visual...more

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Quotes from The Book of Summers

“If the skies were to fall, we'd have a chance of catching them.” — 5 people liked it

“You know, she said, that until you come here again, we're all waiting for you. Not just me, but these fields, the house, that toad we nearly stepped on back there in the woods. We're all here, waiting. Because we're yours now. We belong to you. You've a whole other world here, Erzi. And every summer, the sun won't shine until you come. Not for us.” — 4 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13032527-the-book-of-summers?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1329154912l/13032527.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13032527-the-book-of-summers?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall[/url]

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