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Summer's Child
by
Diane Chamberlain (Goodreads Author)
Publishers Weekly:
Twenty years after 11-year-old Daria Cato found a baby abandoned on a beach in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., she is still very much a part of the child's life. Daria's parent's had adopted the infant, but now they are dead and she has accepted responsibility for Shelly--who has grown into a beautiful, slightly handicapped young woman. Without consulting Daria,...more
Twenty years after 11-year-old Daria Cato found a baby abandoned on a beach in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., she is still very much a part of the child's life. Daria's parent's had adopted the infant, but now they are dead and she has accepted responsibility for Shelly--who has grown into a beautiful, slightly handicapped young woman. Without consulting Daria,...more
Mass Market Paperback, 408 pages
Published
January 1st 2000
by Mira Books
(first published 1999)
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This was a beautiful story of love and hope with many secrets and past events unfolding. I was attracted to the novel because of the premise of a child that was found...but what I found were so many different angles that related to my own story. Obviously, when a reader identifies with the characters there can be some interesting things happen. What surprised me was the fact that this novel helped me deal with some losses that I had and for even the curious question as to why my birth mother wou...more
When she was 11, Daria found a newborn baby girl lying on the beach and saved her life. Despite efforts by law enforcement to identify the mother (with suspicions cast on every teenage girl in their small cul-de-sac), the mother was never found. Daria's family subsequently adopted the baby, Shelly. 22 years later, Shelly is curious about her roots and asks an old family friend, Rory, to try to find out who her mother was.
The book was light and fluffy. Even though there were serious issues (in ad...more
The book was light and fluffy. Even though there were serious issues (in ad...more
Ten-year-old Daria, was walking along the beach beside her North Carolina home in the town of Kill Devil's Hill, on the morning of her eleventh birthday. She was busy marvelling at all the crab shells when she thought she saw the biggest crab shell ever. Gingerly, she flipped it over with her bare foot and realized it was a baby covered in blood with the placenta still attached!! She screamed, ran, stopped, ran some more, then realized she had to go back to see if the baby was alive. It was! She...more
For the most part, this was an enjoyable read. The story centers on discovering a girl's parentage after she was abandoned as a baby and the lives of her adopted sisters. While the cover of the book proclaims Chamberlain as a "Southern Jodi Picoult", I am not certain I would agree wholeheartedly. I did, however, very much appreciate the idea that Shelly, the grown-up abandoned baby, expresses throughout the novel: that as an adopted child, it wasn't that she felt her adopted family was bad or la...more
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Kobo Glo: $79 on sale at Chapters
E-book: $12.99
Finding Diane Chamberlain Books I haven’t read yet and thought they were under cover of titles I already read: Priceless
Pure excitement to realize that “Summer’s Child” was not one of her books I’d already read by another title (Actually I discovered 3 more when I was looking over a list and comparing titles and summaries...I still have Fire and Rain to read, Brass Ring and The Lies We Told....hopefully these will keep me satisfied until her new boo...more
E-book: $12.99
Finding Diane Chamberlain Books I haven’t read yet and thought they were under cover of titles I already read: Priceless
Pure excitement to realize that “Summer’s Child” was not one of her books I’d already read by another title (Actually I discovered 3 more when I was looking over a list and comparing titles and summaries...I still have Fire and Rain to read, Brass Ring and The Lies We Told....hopefully these will keep me satisfied until her new boo...more
During their teenage hood , Daria , her sister Chloé , her cousin , and the neighbors Rory , Linda , Cindy and others used to spend their summer holidays in Kill Devil Hills near the seaside.
One day, after a huge storm Daria,11 years old, found a newborn on the sea side on the morning. She brought her back home . Her parents took great care of her and adopted her as Shelly .
Twenty two years letter, Shelly, Daria and Chloé are still living at shanky house. Shelly who is suffering from seizures i...more
One day, after a huge storm Daria,11 years old, found a newborn on the sea side on the morning. She brought her back home . Her parents took great care of her and adopted her as Shelly .
Twenty two years letter, Shelly, Daria and Chloé are still living at shanky house. Shelly who is suffering from seizures i...more
I just realized after I finished this book that I've read one of Diane Chamberlain's books earlier this Summer. I liked it a lot too. Looks like I have a new author. I like that her books are set on the Outer Banks in North Carolina because I vacationed there for two weeks a few years back and loved the place. It's always nice to read books that are set in places that I'm familiar with.
This book is about a newborn baby found on a beach by an 11 year old girl one Summer 22 years ago. The story qu...more
This book is about a newborn baby found on a beach by an 11 year old girl one Summer 22 years ago. The story qu...more
At 11 years old Daria finds a baby on the beach. Near death she brings the newborn home where her family adopts the child. Police never found the mother and the community always had their suspicion that it was the loose girl who lived on the beach. Some even thought it was a tourist.
21 years later the boy across the street return to follow the story and answer questions on who left the baby on the beach for a show he now hosts. While her adoptive family does not want him to dig into it Shelly t...more
21 years later the boy across the street return to follow the story and answer questions on who left the baby on the beach for a show he now hosts. While her adoptive family does not want him to dig into it Shelly t...more
This was a good bood with a lot of twists and turns to the plot. It was about a baby (Shelly) who was found on the beach by Daria and she wanted to know who her mother was. Daria took the baby home when she found her and her family adopted her. Daria was Shelly's caretaker because Shelly had some special needs and worried if Shelly found out who her mother really was that she would be hurt. Rory was contacted by Shelly for his TV show True Life Stories to find her real mother. Daria hid the secr...more
I decided to start reading this book, because the basic premise looked interesting.
Early one morning a young girl goes for a walk on the beach. She discovers a newborn underneath a large shell, with the placenta still attached. She brings the baby home and the baby is adopted by her family.
Then the book skips to the present day, where the newborn has grown up into a young woman, named Shelly. Shelly has mild brain damage and seizures, and is somewhat childlike, innocent, and naïve. Her sisters...more
Early one morning a young girl goes for a walk on the beach. She discovers a newborn underneath a large shell, with the placenta still attached. She brings the baby home and the baby is adopted by her family.
Then the book skips to the present day, where the newborn has grown up into a young woman, named Shelly. Shelly has mild brain damage and seizures, and is somewhat childlike, innocent, and naïve. Her sisters...more
I read this one quick. I had he expectations of a no-brainer sort of book for the deck as I try to get tan. I think the tan I eventually developed was the only good thing I got from this book. Wait, I know it is.
It started out pretty good. Kinda like a deeper Mary Higgens Clark mystery. But it just fell apart. The rotating perspective of varied characters who all play a part of unraveling the mystery of this foundling child varied very little. All contrived and uninspiring and not very likable....more
It started out pretty good. Kinda like a deeper Mary Higgens Clark mystery. But it just fell apart. The rotating perspective of varied characters who all play a part of unraveling the mystery of this foundling child varied very little. All contrived and uninspiring and not very likable....more
A great book to read during the summer. This is the first book I've read by Diane Chamberlain but look forward to reading others. The book starts out with an 11 year old who finds a newborn baby on the beach. The family adopts the baby and we watch her grow up - and begin the search for her real parents. I really got to know the characters (or so I thought) and I wanted to be in the small beach community living on the cul-de-sac and be part of their circle. The search for Shelly's real parents i...more
At the age of 11, Daria Cato found an abandoned newborn on the beach in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Summer's Child picks up twenty years later, after the death of Daria's parents. Daria has essentially taken on responsibility for Shelly, who is now a mature (though slightly handicapped) young woman. In an effort to discover who her real parents are, Shelly contacts Rory Taylor, a former neighbor who now hosts TV's True Life Stories. Rory is more than happy to help - he was one of the teenagers hangin...more
This was not one of my favorite books by Diane Chamberlain. This story seemed to fall a little flat in the character development - and the characters took actions that were not even in the realm with their characters. I also thought the ending was stretching the realms of believability - which is unusual with her stories.
As to the story itself, the main character, Daria, found an abandoned newborn baby on the beach by their summer house. Her family adopted the baby, and 22 years later, the baby...more
As to the story itself, the main character, Daria, found an abandoned newborn baby on the beach by their summer house. Her family adopted the baby, and 22 years later, the baby...more
Another really good beach read--love, family , romance mystery I had a hard time putting this down.
The story starts with 11 year old Daria Cato finding a newborn baby on the beach in Kill Devil Hills. Her family adopts the child and they call her Shelly. Shelly brings new life to Daria's mom and the mystery surrounding her birth and her subsequent abandonment remain at the forefront of the book.
There are several families and plots and we are left wondering who Shelly's birth mom is as the story rolls along. I found the story held my interest as I tried to figure out who the mom was and why S...more
There are several families and plots and we are left wondering who Shelly's birth mom is as the story rolls along. I found the story held my interest as I tried to figure out who the mom was and why S...more
With all due respect....what a bunch of crap. I am giving this book 3 stars as it was light and easy to read and it was not that I didn't enjoy it but what a bunch of nonsense. Everything just worked out so perfectly and the names of those beach houses drove me to the point of craziness!!I enjoyed her last book, Cee Cee Wilkes, but that one deserved a Pulitzer compared to this!! Don't let my review deter you. It is readable especially after reading a heavy duty Lionel Shriver before it. What get...more
3.0 out of 5 stars - quite a convoluted story about an abandoned little baby found one morning on a beach. Suspend your disbelief and go along for the ride if you like a mystery with your romance novel. You can tell, if you've read all of this author's books, that this was one of her early ones. The author reminds me sometimes of Jodi Picoult in that she always tries to confuse the reader with red herrings about the revelation at the heart of the mystery but I'm never surprised! Anyway, this wou...more
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Summer's Child is a celebration of family and love and understanding.. with a bit of a twist... a baby left to die on a beach. A family takes the baby in and loves it...and then a summer 22 years later when the secrets all start to unravel....
Diane Chamberlain stumped me with another one! I thought for sure I had this all figured out! I thought for sure I knew what was coming next... I had no idea and was surprised by the ending.
I love reading about the barrier island area and the houses on the...more
Diane Chamberlain stumped me with another one! I thought for sure I had this all figured out! I thought for sure I knew what was coming next... I had no idea and was surprised by the ending.
I love reading about the barrier island area and the houses on the...more
This one kept me guessing through the whole book. You think you know what is going on but you never know the truth till the very end.
Daria is 11 when she finds a baby on the beach, not finding the mother her parents adopt Shelly. Now Shelly is 22. She has some mild brain damage from the early exposure and Daria finds that she can't protect her from everything. Shelly secretly contacts an old neighbor of theirs to investigate and find out who her mother is.
Daria is 11 when she finds a baby on the beach, not finding the mother her parents adopt Shelly. Now Shelly is 22. She has some mild brain damage from the early exposure and Daria finds that she can't protect her from everything. Shelly secretly contacts an old neighbor of theirs to investigate and find out who her mother is.
On the day of her eleventh birthday, Daria Cato finds a newborn baby girl left alone on the shoreline of the beach outside her summer cabin. The baby girl's mother remains a mystery and the Cato family ends up raising the baby as their own. Years later, the mystery begins to unravel as the young woman searches for answers surrounding her true birth mother. Lives intersect and secrets unfold leaving all three of the Cato sisters forever changed.
I really liked this mystery book! I think this is the first of Chamberlain I have read and I enjoyed it very much. She had me guessing all the way to the end chapters.
Shelly was a newborn left on the beach to die when Daria, at age 11, happened to find her. Daria's family adopted Shelly and gave her the love and family that her birth mother obviously couldn't or didn't want to. 22 years later Shelly wants to find her birth Mom and ask some questions. So she enlists the help of an old family fri...more
Shelly was a newborn left on the beach to die when Daria, at age 11, happened to find her. Daria's family adopted Shelly and gave her the love and family that her birth mother obviously couldn't or didn't want to. 22 years later Shelly wants to find her birth Mom and ask some questions. So she enlists the help of an old family fri...more
Diane Chamberlain has quickly become one of my favorite authors.
Daria (who I couldn't help but picture as brunette with glasses, thanks to MTV's animated show of the 1990s) wakes up on her birthday and sneaks out of the house to go out and beachcomb. She winds up finding a newborn baby that had been abandoned by its mother. Daria's parents wind up adopting the baby into their family and raise her as their own.
Fast-forward twenty two years. The abandoned baby is now an adult and, naturally, has q...more
Daria (who I couldn't help but picture as brunette with glasses, thanks to MTV's animated show of the 1990s) wakes up on her birthday and sneaks out of the house to go out and beachcomb. She winds up finding a newborn baby that had been abandoned by its mother. Daria's parents wind up adopting the baby into their family and raise her as their own.
Fast-forward twenty two years. The abandoned baby is now an adult and, naturally, has q...more
I loved the fact there were only a few central characters at play and the moral dilemmas each were suffering in their lives while Shelly the abandoned baby at birth strives to find out who her real mother is. Plenty of twists to make you think hard about her parentage and while I knew pretty much from the word go who the father was , the mother shocked me completely and I never saw that coming. Great story line, lots of family love and romance and some mystery thrown in .
This was a great, great book. It has been a long time since I've read a book where the ending totally took me by surprise. The whole time you are reading, you think you have it figured out. Believe me, you don't. Each character was well written, and gave an appropriate amount of back story needed to develop their personality. I really liked Chloe as a character. I liked her story. She felt very human to me. I didn't agree with all of her choices, or necessarily understand them, but I think she w...more
I couldn't put this book down and read it in a day. I liked it instantly and enjoyed the characters. Everytime I thought I had the "who done it" figured out, the book twisted on me again. I definitely did not predict the ending at all which was great because I hate when books are predictable. This is my 2nd book by this author, but I definitely preferred this book to the other.
It is Daria's eleventh birthday, and she is sure that no one will remember. While out for an early morning walk she discovers a baby hidden under a crab shell. Twenty two years later the baby, Shelly, wants to find out who her "real" mom is and why she was left on the beach to die.
Great twists and turns. I'm a little unsure of the ending. Good book, fast read.
Great twists and turns. I'm a little unsure of the ending. Good book, fast read.
I really enjoyd this book I read it in a weekend couldn't put it down once I started it!
It was very easy to follow the authors writing. The characters were well described and real.
My favorite part of the book was the suspense of who is shelly's mother and why did she leave her 22 years ago. The ending will shock you! I thought I had it figured out.
It was very easy to follow the authors writing. The characters were well described and real.
My favorite part of the book was the suspense of who is shelly's mother and why did she leave her 22 years ago. The ending will shock you! I thought I had it figured out.
Interesting book. Had elements of mystery, the drama of a Danielle Steel, and a little bit of moral dilemma a la Jodi Picoult. It held my interest and I didn't mind staying up late to finish it.
It's a story about a baby that was found on the beach 20 years ago and now a TV host has decided to find out who the mother is...they kept calling it a foundling, which for some reason I found incredibly annoying.
I don't know that breezy or light is the right word for this book, but it's a nice summer re...more
It's a story about a baby that was found on the beach 20 years ago and now a TV host has decided to find out who the mother is...they kept calling it a foundling, which for some reason I found incredibly annoying.
I don't know that breezy or light is the right word for this book, but it's a nice summer re...more
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I'm the author of 22 novels published in more than eleven languages. I like to write complex stories about relationships between men and women, parents and children, brothers and sisters, and friends. Although the thematic focus of my books often revolves around family, love, compassion and forgiveness, my stories usually feature a combination of suspense, mystery and intrigue.
I live in North Car...more
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Aug 25, 2010 07:05pm