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The Summer of the Bear

by Bella Pollen (Goodreads Author)

3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 · rating details · 759 ratings · 172 reviews

It is the summer of 1980. A tamed brown bear finds himself tempted by the lure of freedom and the wild open sea. . . Meanwhile a grieving, broken family arrive on a windswept island in the Outer Hebrides, looking for the time and space to understand the strange, bewildering events that led to the loss of their husband and father.

Letty clings to the island, the place of he...more

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published 2010 by Mantle

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Apr 30, 2011 Lee Libro rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

I happily chose to receive an advanced reader copy of British author, Bella Pollen's The Summer of the Bear from Author Exposure. Why you may ask? Maybe it was the colorful cover or the enticing title but the synopsis did the trick for me. Described as depicting a world "where extraordinary and rather magical forces are at play." I knew immediately this piece of literary fiction about a widow, a bear and her three children was for me.

Who doesn't love a story with a bear in it, especially one tha...more I happily chose to receive an advanced reader copy of British author, Bella Pollen's The Summer of the Bear from Author Exposure. Why you may ask? Maybe it was the colorful cover or the enticing title but the synopsis did the trick for me. Described as depicting a world "where extraordinary and rather magical forces are at play." I knew immediately this piece of literary fiction about a widow, a bear and her three children was for me.

Who doesn't love a story with a bear in it, especially one that may be exceptional and magical? I found the idea especially enticing amidst the backdrop of a grieving widow and her children set in the Hebrides in the 1970's.

When Letitia Fleming's husband, Nicky Fleming, dies of an apparent suicide during the course of his diplomatic station in Berlin, the family must deal with not only the loss of a husband and father, but the questionable activities he may have engaged in during the Cold War. Partially to escape the implications, but more so due to economic stress, Letitia moves with her children from Berlin to her childhood home on the Scottish Islands of the Hebrides.

During the course of this transition the story is told in flash backs depicting each family member's relationship to Nicky. To the potential reader this may sound like a bit too much head hopping. At times the author even writes from the viewpoint of the bear, a misplaced and forlorn Grizzly, who is forced to scavenge along the shores of the Hebrides, a far cry from the normal ecosystem in which one might picture his species. How can a writer effectively craft a story through so many points of view? Bella Pollen handles it exquisitely and by this very method, the author delivers the story in a multidimensional manner that exceeds ordinary experience.

The Summer of the Bear carried me to the depths of each character's experience from the youngest child, the innocent Jamie, who, to an endearing fault, perceives the world literally at face value; to his older sisters, one toughened and prickly to deflect her emotions, the other withdrawn, to nurture them; to his mother, Letitia, brave yet retreating into reticence, the kind of silence that speaks loudly to children. The interior worlds of each of these characters are carefully woven together to eventually merge and reveal the true meaning of this summer of the bear.

The mix of the bear's symbolism with both interpersonal and historical elements make this truly a timeless story, brilliantly unfolded in an eloquent blend of words that this writer/reviewer will savor for a long time to come. Both teens and adults will appreciate The Summer of The Bear and with it's release scheduled for June of 2011, it is sure to make a great summer read. I give it my highest rating!
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Feb 22, 2012 Alice rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

•Mlle Alice, pouvez-vous nous raconter votre rencontre avec L'été de l'Ours?
"C'est une fois encore grâce à la gentillesse de Babelio, qui a pensé à moi, que j'ai pu découvrir ce livre."

•Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"Letty avait une vie confortables à Bonn, avec son mari diplomate et ses trois enfants. Mais lorsque son mari meurt, dans des conditions curieuses, toute sa vie bascule. Elle emmène alors toute sa petite famille sur une minuscule île d'Ecosse où elle laisse libre cou...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Marliss rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Okay, so I didn't finish this book of Bella Pollen's either. There were things in there that were offensive and unnecessary to the story.

The story, as much as I read, was pretty interesting. My father was stationed at the American Embassy in Bonn, Germany, when I was a child, and the novel is about what happens after the death of a high-level British diplomat stationed at the British Embassy in Bonn. There is lots said about Bad Godesberg, which is where we lived with all the other foreign diplo...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Charlotte rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well! I barely know where to start to be honest - The Summer of the Bear has evoked so much in me. I'm not going to give you a synopsis of the story - others have done this perfectly and I don't want to give anything away.

I guess I have to start with Pollen's incredible writing style. It's something else! Her rich use of perfectly chosen adjectives and metaphors were undoubtedly the best I've ever read. Usually, too much time spent describing things and not enough time spent on the actual story...more Well! I barely know where to start to be honest - The Summer of the Bear has evoked so much in me. I'm not going to give you a synopsis of the story - others have done this perfectly and I don't want to give anything away.

I guess I have to start with Pollen's incredible writing style. It's something else! Her rich use of perfectly chosen adjectives and metaphors were undoubtedly the best I've ever read. Usually, too much time spent describing things and not enough time spent on the actual story ('We Need To Talk About Kevin' springs to mind!!) gets on my nerves but not this time. Not a single word was wasted - a perfect mix of beauty and wit. Actually, I was so captivated by this, I feel like a traitor saying anything less than complimentary about the book!!

I was transported into the character's world with ease. The characters were so believable - this isn't always the case with works of fiction, but Pollen definitely created a family that I could easily imagine bumping into on holiday in the Hebrides! I cared about them and what happened to them. I read from other reviewers that they thought the father's character wasn't developed enough for them to care about him or what caused his untimely death but actually I felt differently and I did care about him. I thought he was portrayed as a very caring and just man, as well as a very loving father.

My only quarm, and please don't let this put you off, was that I'm not really sure that the whole bear undertone was necessary.
Considering the book is called 'The Summer of the Bear' and is reputedly centred around the escaped bear living on the island, Bella Pollen seem to focus very little on that aspect of the storyline. Actually, I think I would of left it out if I were her and called the book something different.
I know there are going to be a lot of people who totally disagree with me but I was ever so slightly niggled by the bear's communication with Jamie (a figment of Jamie's imagination of course but it didn't read that way). Hmmm, it all just seemed a little 'make believe' (lol - seems silly to say considering this is the only 'real' bit of the story!) which kind of went in the face of the seriousness of the storyline about the father's death.

Anyway - the ending was fabulous and I have recommended the book to all my friends on Face Book.(less)

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Jul 05, 2011 Sue rated it 5 of 5 stars

A magical book - I loved it. Other reviewers have posted the details of the book, so I won't mention the plot. It is a part thriller - just what was the British government up to in the Cold War? A time that we have very quickly forgotten. But in 1979 everyone lived in fear of missile attacks from the USSR. Berlin was divided by the terrible Wall, with the dreadful No-Man's-Land where so many people tried to cross to the West and were relentlessly gunned down. In 1970 I was in West Berlin, and yo...more

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Jul 02, 2011 Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summer of the Bear begins with the death of Nicky Flemming. Working in the British Embassy in Germany, his accidental fall from the top of the embassy seems anything but accidental. The government agents assigned to investigate suspect suicide, saying that Nicky could have been a mole who was about to be caught. Stunned and prfoundly confused his wife, Letty, flees with their 3 children to her childhood summer home on an island in Scotland. There Letty falls into a numb cycle of trying to preten...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Tammy Dotts rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

The Fleming family retreats to a family cottage in the Outer Hebrides following the death of Nick Fleming in 1980s West Germany. Accusations of treason and a suicide note from the diplomat lead his wife to question how well she knew her husband while her two daughters struggle to define themselves and her young son leaves clues for his “lost” father to find the family. As the Flemings arrive on the island, a tamed bear escapes from his owner and hides out in a sea cave. A strange connection form...more The Fleming family retreats to a family cottage in the Outer Hebrides following the death of Nick Fleming in 1980s West Germany. Accusations of treason and a suicide note from the diplomat lead his wife to question how well she knew her husband while her two daughters struggle to define themselves and her young son leaves clues for his “lost” father to find the family. As the Flemings arrive on the island, a tamed bear escapes from his owner and hides out in a sea cave. A strange connection forms between bear and boy as Bella Pollen weaves a sleepy sort of magic in The Summer of the Bear.

The novel moves at a well measured pace: slow but designed to capture readers. Pollen creates a world to spend time in. When she brings the main plot threads together, it’s with a feeling of moving the characters along to whatever waits for them after the last page is turned.

Pollen’s chapters alternate perspectives among the Fleming family. Letty pieces together evidence of Nick’s treason while shutting herself away from her children. Georgia, the older daughter, accompanied her father on a trip to East Berlin and knows something about the secrets he was keeping. Alba, the middle child, uses anger to keep her feelings at bay. Jamie is the special one; his mind doesn’t work the way it should and it takes him a long while to understand his father isn’t lost, but dead.

The characters could be written easily as stereotypes. The two daughters struggle to emerge as fully realized characters, with only Georgia achieving that successfully. Letty and Jamie, however, are very real. Jamie’s mental disabilities – which are never categorized clearly – could have made him too precious, but Pollen grounds his differences in having Jamie just be a child, fighting with his sister and looking for proof that his bear is real.

Jamie and his father were supposed to go to the circus on the day Nick died. Among the attractions was a bear act, and when Jamie sees a truck advertising a performing bear on the family’s trip to the island, he decides the bear will help him find his father.

The bear feels a connection to Jamie as well, and Pollen checks in with the bear in short chapters that may be too anthropomorphic for some readers but can be explained by the bear’s time with humans. Pollen stops short of delivering magic realism, but doesn’t offer explanations for everything either.

The Summer of the Bear has some flaws. The answers to Nick’s treasonous behaviors seem like an afterthought as the novel increases tension about Jamie and the bear. What Nick may or may not have done gives the other characters something else to do. An environmental MacGuffin near the end of the novel provides an excuse for Letty to leave the family cottage and not much else.

But the flaws are minor or, at least, don’t negate the engaging story Pollen tells. The Summer of the Bear is a novel to relish and to mourn when the last page is read.
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Jun 06, 2011 Leeswammes rated it 3 of 5 stars

After the father dies in an accident in Germany, an English family consisting of the widow, two teenage girls, and a son of eight moves to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland where the family have a cottage. They all lived in 1980s (Cold War) Germany because Nicky, the father, was a diplomat for the British government there. His death is considered suspicious by his colleagues.

Mother Letty is falling apart and cannot look after her children. Alba is the middle child and running wild. She is sulky and...more After the father dies in an accident in Germany, an English family consisting of the widow, two teenage girls, and a son of eight moves to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland where the family have a cottage. They all lived in 1980s (Cold War) Germany because Nicky, the father, was a diplomat for the British government there. His death is considered suspicious by his colleagues.

Mother Letty is falling apart and cannot look after her children. Alba is the middle child and running wild. She is sulky and negative the whole time and bullies her small brother, Jamie. Georgie is the oldest child and seems to cope best.

Jamie hasn’t quite understood what has happened to his father (or hasn’t wanted to understand it) and believes his father has had an accident and has gone away (as he’s been told “Your father is gone”). He keeps looking for his father everywhere and when a bear is on the loose on their Scottish Island, he believes it may be connected to his father.

Letty, even though she’s almost catatonic with grief, manages to find out bit by bit what has happened to Nicky, her husband, and whether he’s has been spying against his country, or is in fact, a hero.

This story started off well, with the family moving to Scotland after the death of the father. I love to read about remote places and this certainly was one. So I hoped to be swept away, virtually, by the wind and the sea. But unfortunately, this didn’t happen for me. I could envisage the place and the weather quite well, but it was from a little distance, rather than directly in the story. In other words, I didn’t feel “present” in the story.

The way the family was coping with the recent loss and the move to the remote island was described very well and was absolutely believable. The mother, Letty, did not have any energy to look after her children, Alba took it out on her young brother especially, Georgie went her own quiet way, and Jamie was searching for clues as to where his father had gone.

There was one major problem I had with the book, and that was the bear in the title. This was a rather anthropomorphic bear. For instance, it recognized that a piece of paper in a bottle was a map of Europe, it finds a wooden box from the Ukraine, Irish naval uniforms. It thinks walruses are interesting because they can explore ship wrecks.

This could work, if there were other elements of magical realism or other thinking animals. But just this one bear? It didn’t work for me.

The story was built up well. I liked the family and wanted to know what would happen. It was an easy read and I read it within a few days. An original idea, for sure!(less)

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Jun 01, 2011 Cynthia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2011

Understated Magical Thinking

This is a whimsical coming of age story of three siblings growing up on a far northern Scottish Island. They’ve just lost their diplomatist father in a horrible accident (or was it suicide?) and their mother has emotionally checked out of their lives. The two oldest Georgie, 17 and Alba, 14 are negotiating puberty with more or less success but the girls’ 9 year old brother Jamie is floundering but then he’s always been on the odd. He can’t accept that his much loved d...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Amina rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have just picked this up as i have packed all my other books for my move. The book is split into little sections and has little pictures beside these sections. What I have gathered so far is that there is a family of four, three children and a mother. They seem very well travelled as the father was or is in the army. The father is no longer around but it is not clear why yet. One of the children, the youngest, Jamie has some learning difficulties and does not get along with his sister Alba. We...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: espionage, literate-novel, novels-set-abroad

This is one of those books that creeps up on you. At first it seemed rather slow, but as it developed, suddenly all sorts of pieces started to fall together. Nicky is a British diplomat during the Cold War, who falls (jumps?) from the top of his office building in Bonn one evening. His wife is shattered, his fellow diplomats start investigating him for treason, and his children are confused. His wife takes them to an island in the Hebrides which was her childhood retreat, to try to heal. As she...more

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May 01, 2012 Roderick Macleod rated it 5 of 5 stars

When a diplomat dies in sinister circumstances his widow instinctively escapes to her spiritual home in the Outer Hebrides, along with her confused and reluctant children. As each tries in their own way to come to terms with what has happened, the family seems to be unravelling, but an escaped bear, government development proposals and the support of a distinctive island community provide the clues which allow the family to uncover the truth.

Drawing on her clear love of the Highlands and familia...more

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Sep 11, 2011 Marguerite Kaye rated it 4 of 5 stars

The thing that stopped me giving this 5 stars was the ending, which felt really rushed in its efforts to tie up all the loose ends, and made me feel a tiny bit cheated. But apart from that, I loved it.

I loved the story, and the tangled-up threads of all the different stories. I loved the bear's perspective. Though I'm not normally a fan of either children or constantly shifting POVs, I loved both in this. The children felt very real, very disfunctional, you really got inside what was going on i...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Natasha rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's 1979, the height of the Cold War, and Nicholas Flemming, a British diplomat living in Germany falls to his death from the roof of the embassy. After his death, amid accusations of treason and spying, his wife Letty takes their three children to the family's summer house in the Outer Hebrides. There the family grieves in their own way and Letty remembers her husband and tries to accept that everything she thought she knew about him was a lie. Meanwhile, on the island, a tame grizzly bear has...more

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Sep 09, 2010 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Author Bella Pollen was holidaying in the Outer Hebrides in 1980 when a grizzly bear escaped from it's owners and spent 24 days roaming the tiny island of Benbecula. The grizzly never reverted to the wild and when it was eventually captured it had lost almost half of it's body weight. The story captured the attention of the world's media and Bella Pollen and her siblings spent an exciting summer hoping to be the ones who caught the bear. This story has remained with Pollen ever since and is the...more Author Bella Pollen was holidaying in the Outer Hebrides in 1980 when a grizzly bear escaped from it's owners and spent 24 days roaming the tiny island of Benbecula. The grizzly never reverted to the wild and when it was eventually captured it had lost almost half of it's body weight. The story captured the attention of the world's media and Bella Pollen and her siblings spent an exciting summer hoping to be the ones who caught the bear. This story has remained with Pollen ever since and is the basis of this novel.

'The Summer of the Bear' tells the story of Letty and her three children who have just moved back to the windswept Scottish island after the death of Nicky - Letty's husband, the children's father and formally a British Diplomat and adored by his family. At the same time a bear has escaped from it's owner and is living somewhere on the island. The family are struggling to come to terms with Nicky's death which has been shrouded in secrecy. The death has been kept entirely from Jamie, the youngest and only boy - he struggles to understand where his Dada is, when is he coming back? Jamie soon convinces himself that the escaped bear is, in fact, his father.

With a really engaging plot, well thought out and well written and some superb characterisation, this book is not really about the missing bear or about the family, but more about communication and how the lack of communication and keeping things from each other can really have a terrible impact on people and families. At times the struggles of the family are really heartbreaking. The children trying to come to terms with a whole new life, a new home and no Dada and Letty struggling to put on a brave face whilst wondering just how Nicky died. Although very sad at times, there is also some wonderful humour. The islanders are so witty and funny, each islander has their own idea about the bear, some think it is the devil!

Gentle, absorbing, witty yet sad and with a hint of magic, this really is a very good read.(less)

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Jun 06, 2011 Kate Berkeley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story was somewhat slow to start, and took a while to get into the characters but for me the character I fell for most was Nicky, the diplomat husband to Letty and father to Georgiana, Alba and Jamie, who fell to his death in the Embassy in Bonn. His widow and children return to the Hebrides and Summer of the Bear follows their story as they all try, in their very different ways, to come to terms with their fathers death and fathom how and why he has died, or, in the case of Jamie, if he has...more

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May 02, 2013 Elaine rated it 2 of 5 stars

The reviews on this book intrigued me...I was so looking forward to it. But, where was the editor telling Ms Pollen to cut 100-150 pages? The set up is just too much, over 200 pages of setting up a rather interesting ending-and there was some interesting plots getting there. There: the story of the father. Plots: the relationship with the father and his story of being a "spy"...or was he? Extraneous distractions: the relationships between the children -particularly the middle child and her young...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Mandolin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Transitioning smoothly between the present and past and among the lives of the main characters, Bella Pollen recounts a heart-rending tale of loyalty, loss, and the hurt and hope that comes with being a part of a family. Leticia Fleming is stunned by the death of her husband, a diplomat in Bonn during the Cold War, and the ensuing rumors and accusations that he was a traitor and his death a suicide. Betrayed by those nearest her, she flees with her young family to an isolated island in the Scott...more Transitioning smoothly between the present and past and among the lives of the main characters, Bella Pollen recounts a heart-rending tale of loyalty, loss, and the hurt and hope that comes with being a part of a family. Leticia Fleming is stunned by the death of her husband, a diplomat in Bonn during the Cold War, and the ensuing rumors and accusations that he was a traitor and his death a suicide. Betrayed by those nearest her, she flees with her young family to an isolated island in the Scottish Outer Hebrides'. On the island, surrounded by stark and bleak surroundings and by people sheltered from the modern world and entrenched in old beliefs and values, she and her young children are forced to confront their loss and grapple to uncover the truth behind it. They tear each other apart in their individual struggles and with the secrets they keep, creating tiny rifts in the family that only intensify the pain that each faces. As they work through their grief, Letty and her two daughters Georgie and Alba become slowly convinced of their husband and fathers' guilt. Jamie, the youngest son who suffers with communication and physical ability, is the only one of the four who remains convinced of his fathers' loyalty and his continued presence in their lives. Jamie's father promised him that he would return and Jamie refuses to forget that promise. As he settles into the island, he slowly comes to believe that his father has taken the form of an escaped grizzly bear that is loose somewhere along the coastline and he sets about to find the bear and see his father once more. In his search, and in the retelling of each characters' memories and experiences on the island, the truth of his father's death is slowly revealed and the family is ultimately able to find peace and healing, though they must experience tragedy first.

This book is touching in many ways, revealing so well the importance of family and the ease with which it can be destroyed. Pollen takes the smallest details of each characters' life and retells them with sensitivity and understanding. Each story is captivating, revealing how simple it is to lie not only to others but to ourselves as well, and how damaging those lies can be. The suspense she creates surrounding the father's death, the identity of the bear and the ultimate fate of the family is subtle and draws you on swiftly through the book to a satisfying conclusion. The small details of the island and its inhabitants (including the renegade bear) add a charming quality to the book that rounds it out well. In all, a superb book that is sure to leave an impression.
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Mar 05, 2011 Nicki Markus rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Summer of the Bear is a wonderful tale that grabbed my attention from the very first page. The story follows a family (mother, two daughters, one son) as they move to a small island in the Outer Hebrides after their diplomat father falls to his death in Bonn, Germany.

Each chapter gives us the view point of a different character and we learn how each is dealing with the crisis. Letty (mother) tries to understand what really happened to her husband, eldest daughter, Georgie, learns to overcome...more

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Dec 01, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction

Great for a wide range of readers. Literary, family drama, with a bit of Berlin wall political intrigue, strong sense of place with small town antics (tiny islands off the coast of Scotland), plus a wee bit of magical realism light in the form of a somewhat sentient bear. Add to that grief fiction, and you have this book. It sounds like a hot mess and it is not al all. Somehow it totally works. You have strong voice from many of the characters who are simultaneously sharing their stories and per...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Peggy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Letty and her children leave 1970s Bonn, Germany, for the a small island on the northern coast of Scotland following her husband Nicky's death. Was it an accident, suicide, murder? Was Nicky a traitor or a faithful member of the Queen of England's diplomatic corp? This story is a blend of whimsy and gritty reality as the family struggles with its grief and suspicions. The youngest child, Jamie, misled by vague euphemisms of death, believes his father will return to "save" them. Eventually Jamie...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Kathleen Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished

The Summer of the Bear by Bella Pollen is a very interesting story about a family dealing with the loss of the father in the family. The novel takes place on the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, in the summer of 1979.This story is told in alternating chapters by the members of the Fleming family and by the circus bear. Yes the bear in this story has thoughts. The circus bear escapes from his handler while swimming in the ocean. Georgie, the eldest daughter feels that she is responsible for the death of...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Nicolemauerman rated it 4 of 5 stars

As I read through the other reviews of this book many readers complained that it started out slow, but I don't remember this book being this way. The book starts with the death of young Jamie's father (the book revolves around the mystery of his father's death). The family is on the road, moving to their summer home in Scotland. On the way Jamie spots a circus van with a bear on the side. On arrival they discover the bear is loose in the island/neighborhood and Jamie searches for the bear with t...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Christy Birdsong rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a sad story interwoven with some mystical elements about a mother and her three children grieving after the recent suspicious death of their husband/father. The mother retreats with the children to her childhood home on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides, where the local characters are colorful and the landscape, in its moody, stark beauty, is a character in itself.
Each member of this close family is struggling in their own way, and completely unable to help each other recover for...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Caryn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Whether one believes in fate or mysticism, whether one believes in the randomness of the universe or the tenet that things happen for a reason, "Summer of the Bear" is well worth the week or so it takes to get acquainted with the Fleming family. That would be the widow Fleming (Letty) and her three children (Alba, Georgie and Jamie), all of whom are as central to the plot as is the newly (and mysteriously) deceased Nicky Fleming, a foreign diplomat who died under a cloud of suspicion. Even readi...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Laura Stone Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

"The Summer of the Bear" by Bella Pollen is a wonderful examination of a family’s reaction to the father’s somewhat mysterious death. It’s 1979 when Nicky Fleming, a British diplomat posted to Bonn and working closely with East Germany, is discovered at the base of the embassy building. Politely escorted out of the country, his wife Letty and their three children retreat to Letty’s family home in the remote Outer Hebrides. As Letty sinks further into anger, abject grief and confusion, Georgie, A...more

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May 23, 2012 Beth Cavanaugh rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought this book was so lovely. It took a bit to get into it, since the beginning of the book feels like it's setting a lot of different things in motion, but once the storylines became more clear I was very interested in following them through. The blend of political intrigue and fantastical childhood tale was maybe a bit clunky at times but overall I loved how the two were brought together. The mother is the most frustrating character in the story for me, but the author uses her inability t...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Vonia rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a great summer read... but I felt it could have had some more substance... Then again, I guess that's what defines it as a summer read... I felt that the young boy has Asperger's and/or Autism... but that was never stated... In fact, the author went out of her way to say something else... Some important "young adult" themes were represented... but, overall, a forgettable read. I was first attracted to this title because of the magical realism aspect, but I definitely feel that was the b...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, gave-up-reading-or-disappointing

This was ok but I felt it could have been much better as all the different elements of the story had real potential but were somehow lacking. The characters were irritating by the middle of the book but i carried on till the end.
I really would've liked more about the bear to distract from the unlikeable children!
I found the dialogue between the husband and wife, and him and the children particularly annoying; he sounded so smug and patronising!
The one character I could've read more about was t...more

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Nov 13, 2011 Sally rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a read!!!
Nicky Fleming is a Diplomat for England stationed in Bonn. His love for his wife and three children and for his country is absolute!! So death
is totally unexpected. Did he jump, fall or was he pushed. His wife moves to her childhood home, Scotland's outer Hebrides where
Letty falls into a deep depression and each child fends for themselves trying to absorb what happened to Dada!! As they navigate
the island they know a Trained Bear is loose, and Jamie somehow feels the bear has som...more

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The Wilding
by Maria McCann

About Bella Pollen

Raised in New York , Bella Pollen is a writer and journalist who has contributed to a variety of publications, including American Vogue, The Spectator, The Times & The Sunday Telegraph.

Author of four previous novels, Midnight Cactus, Hunting Unicorns, Daydream Girl and All About Men, Pollen has tackled a broad spectrum of subjects from the decline of the British Aristocracy to the immigration...more

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Quotes from The Summer of the Bear

“...people tended to sleepwalk through their lives, disregarding the present to wait for the future, capable only of happiness retrospectively...People were destined to become haunted by those moments when everything was perfect - if only they had known it.” — 1 person liked it

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The Summer of the Bear

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