Cathy Holton, author of the popular Beach Trip, returns with an intriguing and mysterious tale of dark deeds and family secrets in a small S...
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Dec 25, 2011
drey
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drey’s thoughts:
Summer in the South is a story about a young woman who’s trying to figure out her life–who she is and what she wants. She’s rallying though the loss of her mother and getting dumped by her lover, when a college friend offers her sanctuary at his family’s home in a small town in Tennessee.
Ava hopes the solitude will spark her creative juices and get her started on writing again. She hopes to find out about her roots, and reaches out to the man who might be her fath More...
Summer in the South is a story about a young woman who’s trying to figure out her life–who she is and what she wants. She’s rallying though the loss of her mother and getting dumped by her lover, when a college friend offers her sanctuary at his family’s home in a small town in Tennessee.
Ava hopes the solitude will spark her creative juices and get her started on writing again. She hopes to find out about her roots, and reaches out to the man who might be her fath More...
Dec 07, 2011
SenoraG
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Article first published as Book Review: Summer in the South by Cathy Holton on Blogcritics.
Summer in the South takes us to Woodburn, Tennessee. It is to Woodburn that Ava Dabrowski decides to go after an invitation from a college friend. A lot of things happened to Ava including the death of her mother, finding out her boyfriend is married and things not going so great at work. So she heads down to Woodburn for some R&R and a chance to work on her novel. She's not t More...
Oct 25, 2011
Cathi
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Summer in the South is a tale of a young writer from Chicago, Ava, who makes the decision to leave her job as a successful copy writer and take time to work on the one thing she has always wanted to do, write a novel. Invited to spend time with her long time friend from college, Will, she finds herself transported in time as she takes up residence in the small southern town of Woodburn, Tennessee. Ava moves in with Will's elderly aunts, Josephine and Fanny, and begins to learn the ways of this
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Aug 26, 2011
Laura
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This breezy page-turner is tinged with a pleasingly mellow shade of Faulkner Lite – not too much eccentricity, not too much sins-of-the-fathers fatalism, and just enough Southern atmosphere to make you reach for a glass of lemonade and be thankful for modern pharmaceuticals. A young Chicago woman gets an invitation from her college friend, Will, to spend the summer in his family’s ancestral home in Tennessee. She can relax on the porch, eat chicken salad with his great aunts, and maybe start wri
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Jun 30, 2011
Denise
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This book is a bit of ghost story, a bit of a nostalgic journey to the twenties and bit of something else. The main character is Ava, a thirty something woman who has just lost her big-city job in Chicago and is pretty disillusioned with her life choices. Her estranged mother has recently died unexpectedly and her love life is a mess. She takes up the offer of a college friend to spend the summer with his aunts in a rambling, old (haunted) house in a Tennessee town. All of her needs are met,
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Jun 25, 2011
George
rated it: 
I was sent a copy of this book, even though I didn't enter a giveaway contest. I was not familiar with the author, but I'm always open to new reading experiences.
Let me say first that Holton has talent as a writer. She describes characters and settings well and has an eye for detail. The atmosphere she creates in describing the small Southern town and the Woodburn estate is authentic and interesting. The premise of the novel is simple enough: Ava, who lives in Chicago, is invited by More...
Let me say first that Holton has talent as a writer. She describes characters and settings well and has an eye for detail. The atmosphere she creates in describing the small Southern town and the Woodburn estate is authentic and interesting. The premise of the novel is simple enough: Ava, who lives in Chicago, is invited by More...
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Jun 13, 2011
Colleen
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Summer in the South: A Novel by Cathy Holton is a simmering summer read filled with romance and intrigue about long-buried pasts. Following the death of her mother, Ava joins a college friend, Will, at his ancestral home in Tennessee where he lives with two elderly aunts. In addition to coming to terms with her tumultuous relationship with her mother, Ava is looking for some time away to work on a novel. She did not, however, expect to find such rich content for her novel right in the home in
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Aug 01, 2011
Patty
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Book summary...
Simply put...Ava's mother dies, Ava's involved in a relationship with her boss, Ava gets a letter from her unknown father, Ava wants to write a novel but feels tied down to her apartment, her job and her possessions. Ava reconnects with Will, an old college friend, who asks her to spend the summer in his sleepy Southern town. Ava would get free room and board and the opportunity to focus on what she has always wanted to do.
Ava's life has been a extraordinary on More...
Simply put...Ava's mother dies, Ava's involved in a relationship with her boss, Ava gets a letter from her unknown father, Ava wants to write a novel but feels tied down to her apartment, her job and her possessions. Ava reconnects with Will, an old college friend, who asks her to spend the summer in his sleepy Southern town. Ava would get free room and board and the opportunity to focus on what she has always wanted to do.
Ava's life has been a extraordinary on More...
Aug 02, 2011
Donna
rated it: 
A first time read for this author, I enjoyed the story set in the South. I always love stories in this setting for some reason. This one is set in a small town near Nashville called Woodburn. I personally think it is really Franklin, TN where my husband and I have visited on a trip to see my grandson in Nashville. Franklin is a small town with so much history especially Civil War. From the author's descriptions of the town, it could very well be Franklin.
The main character, Ava, More...
The main character, Ava, More...
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Jun 15, 2011
Stephanie
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Summer in the South tells the story about Ava. Everything in Ava's life seems to be going wrong all at the same time so when Will, an old friend from college, throws her a lifeline by inviting her to stay with his great-aunts in their house in the southern city of Woodburn. She goes there in hopes of finally working on and completely a novel. Once there she stumbles upon a family secret which no one will talk about. An idea sparks in her mind and a novel takes form as she tells the story of what
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Aug 06, 2011
Grace
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 17, 2011
Jessica
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I expected this book to be a good summer read, and it was what I expected; not bad, but not great either. It wasn't too hard to keep track of what was happening, which a lot of the time was a whole lot of slow-paced, lazy day, heat-induced, dream-state, coma-like nothing.
I didn't really take away a sense of a ghost story, although there are bits that are meant that way. I didn't find this an intriguing mystery, although there was a death that wasn't really explained until the very en More...
I didn't really take away a sense of a ghost story, although there are bits that are meant that way. I didn't find this an intriguing mystery, although there was a death that wasn't really explained until the very en More...
Jun 29, 2011
One of the things that made me want to read this book (it wasn't the uninspired title) was a hint on the jacket that the family in the novel had once entertained Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Faulkner. Those names were only thrown out in passing, though, a way of showing that when you are a member of an old-money old Southern family, hobnobbing with the famous is really no big deal, hardly worth mentioning. Ava is a mutt from Chicago, raised by a rootless, single parent mother. When she accepts the
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Jun 08, 2011
Julia
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The title really sets the stage for the basic premise of this story. Ava leaves behind a failed relationship and stale job at the invite of an old college friend to stay with his aunts for the summer to work on the novel she has always wanted to write. She hasn't seen Will Fraser for years, and remembers teasing him about the small southern town he hailed from while in college. Aunts Fanny and Josephine greet Ava with true southern hospitality while Uncle Maitland mans the bar at Toddy Time ever
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Sep 17, 2011
Nora
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I didn't love this novel, but I didn't dislike it either. I really didn't like the main characters Ava and Will. Ava was too nosy and inquisitive when it came to Will's family history and Will was too closed mouthed and secretive which drove Ava to outside sources. He was also too moody always wanting Ava to be someone she wasn't. I loved the Aunts and their friends. I can imagine myself enjoying "Toddy time" listening to the stories about their past. Over all the story was nice but th
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Aug 13, 2011
Heather
rated it:
I absolutely LOVED this book. To me it was a cross between Fried Green Tomatoes and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. There was an old southern murder mystery from the early 1900's, a touch of romance, and the added struggle to find oneself. It kept my attention from the very first page on and when I wasn't reading I wanted to be, or I was thinking of the characters. The writing style even allowed us a peek into several secondary characters heads/lives. We received a few flashbacks that sh
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Aug 10, 2011
Kristy
rated it:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. I love stories about the South; all of the food, history, culture and sweet tea that you could possibly want is at your fingertips. In this case, the story evolved by describing the past of the Woodburn's, a prominent family in Tennessee that the protagonist, Ava visits. Ava has been friends with Will Woodburn all through college and she receives the perfect opportunity to go down there and write, per Will's request. She stays at the Woodburn family estat
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Sep 05, 2011
Kim
rated it:
As I read this book, it seemed so familiar to me. I finally figured out I had read a book review, months ago, in Book Page. It was a satisfying book to end summer with, it had a decent plot, especially the story within the story. Ava, the main character, travels to Tennessee to spend the summer with a friend's family, and try her hand at her first novel. The summer helps her discover who she is, which turns out to be very different than who she thought she was. All in all, it was a very enjoyabl
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Aug 10, 2011
Amy
rated it:
Not the greatest book that I've read but not bad - this was definitely one that looked interesting per the cover when I was at the library (of course none of the books I WANT to read have come in yet despite putting them on hold weeks ago....) Anyhow - it had some mystery and intrigue to it which is enough for me as I'm not a huge mystery fan. As someone new to the South, it was intresting to hear how the author describes the heat and humidty - something I can't seem to get away from these day
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Feb 10, 2012
Sue
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book. It was very atmospheric and I managed to lose myself in the slightly claustrophobic feel. I loved the eccentric characters - the Miss Haversham like Aunts, and Maitland, the courtly, cocktail pouring Uncle - all so odd and endearing, but chilling at the same time. Leading their narrow, circumscribed lives now, but having been world traveling, well connected and sophisticated in their younger years. My only slight criticism is that I found our "heroine" A
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Jul 15, 2011
Debra
rated it:
Slow and sultry as a southern summer, this book is full of Southern Gothic. Ava flees her bizarre past to try to write as a houseguest, not really expecting to be intrigued by the equally bizarre and mysterious past of her hosts.
The first half of the book was difficult for me to get interested in. Despite enjoying Holton's previous books, part of me was voting for giving up. Once the scene was laboriously set, however, elements fall into place. I really did enjoy the last half of More...
The first half of the book was difficult for me to get interested in. Despite enjoying Holton's previous books, part of me was voting for giving up. Once the scene was laboriously set, however, elements fall into place. I really did enjoy the last half of More...
May 29, 2011
Doreen
rated it:
I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway. What a fascinating book! The story begins in Tennessee, in the 1930's. It centers on a particularly wealthy, WASP family, who has lived in the area for many generations. This family is the picture of the old South: perfect manners, unwavering hospitality, and proud pedigree. Of course there's always the flip side to these old Southern aristocrats: illegitimate children, underhanded business dealings, and secrets about members referred to as 'blac
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Dec 13, 2011
Laura
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There was something that drew me into this story about a girl named Ava who accepts a friend's invitation to come to his Tennessee home to give her an opportunity to right her book. The family history in this town goes back hundreds of years with equally as many stories and legends.
Here were some of my issues:
1) I really didn't like Ava. I have a hard time really enjoying a book when I'm angry or annoyed with the main characters. Who starts doing some intense snooping and di More...
Here were some of my issues:
1) I really didn't like Ava. I have a hard time really enjoying a book when I'm angry or annoyed with the main characters. Who starts doing some intense snooping and di More...
Aug 03, 2011
Melissa
rated it:
I read the book while I was on vacation in Florida and I finished the book rather quickly lounging by the pool. I enjoyed the way the history of the Woodburns was incorporated in the story and it helped me follow the storyline better. There was a little romance, mystery, humor, intrigue and a little paranormal all rolled up in a great novel. All the characters were developed fully and they interacted well together. I got a kick out of the two great Aunts Josephine and Fanny and the way they inte
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Aug 13, 2011
Jlaurenmc
rated it:
Rolling hills of farms. Fields full of tall grass. Trees dripping with kudzu. Long two-lane roads running through this landscape. Picture this, and you've perfectly captured the setting of Cathy Holton's latest novel Summer in the South.
After living a mostly-nomadic life with little in the way of roots, save some time spent in Chicago, Ava Dabrowski is struggling. Her career is in shambles; her love life is a disaster; and she's just lost her estranged mother. When old college acquai More...
After living a mostly-nomadic life with little in the way of roots, save some time spent in Chicago, Ava Dabrowski is struggling. Her career is in shambles; her love life is a disaster; and she's just lost her estranged mother. When old college acquai More...
Aug 19, 2011
Kristi (Books and Needlepoint)
rated it:
Ava and Will have been friends for many years. He has been inviting her to visit his home since they got out of college. One day he catches her during a crisis and she accepts his invitation to come South and stay with his aunts to work on her novel. She arrives in Woodburn and it is like entering another world. People are friendly and unhurried. Everybody knows everybody's history, and you have to read between the lines of what they say to get to what they really mean.
Ava is defin More...
Ava is defin More...
Aug 05, 2011
Kaye
rated it:
Ava Dabrowski is still mourning the death of her mother, reeling from the breakup with her married lover and disenchanted with her job. So when Will Fraser, an old college acquaintance, asks her one more time to visit him in Woodburn, Tennessee, she quits her job in Chicago and accepts even though she has some not too flattering preconceived notions of "The South". He lures her with the idea that she can stay with his two great-aunts, Josephine and Fanny Woodburn, in the family home f
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Aug 26, 2011
Erin
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jun 01, 2011
Tonya
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Different from Cathy Holton's usual type of books -- but very good at the end. Does that qualify as a good book? I wasn't too sure most of the way through. I struggled wondering where this story was going, back and forth with all these details that really didn't seem to have a point. UNTIL about 50 pages left, it got really good and made me glad I hung in there!
Ava is invited to go down to a college friend's hometown for the summer to write her first novel ever. If she can even figur More...
Ava is invited to go down to a college friend's hometown for the summer to write her first novel ever. If she can even figur More...
Jun 24, 2011
Julie
rated it:
** I won this book through Goodreads First Reads**
This book was a great representation of the pride and honor that the older generation in the south take in their family heritage. As I read I could imagine the characters sitting on the veranda enjoying totty time. I could picture the streets lined with trees. I could see the weeping willows swaying in the breeze... I truly enjoyed the mystery that was intertwined within this novel. Without giving too much away I can honestly say More...
This book was a great representation of the pride and honor that the older generation in the south take in their family heritage. As I read I could imagine the characters sitting on the veranda enjoying totty time. I could picture the streets lined with trees. I could see the weeping willows swaying in the breeze... I truly enjoyed the mystery that was intertwined within this novel. Without giving too much away I can honestly say More...
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