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A Hundred Summers
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Memorial Day, 1938: New York socialite Lily Dane has just returned with her family to the idyllic oceanfront community of Seaview, Rhode Island, expecting another placid summer season among the familiar traditions and friendships that sustained her after heartbreak.
That is, until the Greenwalds decide to take up residence in Seaview.
Nick and Budgie Greenwald are an unwelc ...more
That is, until the Greenwalds decide to take up residence in Seaview.
Nick and Budgie Greenwald are an unwelc ...more
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Hardcover, 357 pages
Published
May 30th 2013
by Putnam Adult
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Really loved this book. It is admittedly a little sappy, schmaltzy, and a little contrived, but it is also a fantastic beach read for those of us who love the 1930's. It felt like my favorite old black and white movies, and I would love to see this made into a movie. Great read.
...more

The more I think about “A Hundred Summers,” the snarkier I get.
Some questions:
What was the real attraction between Lily and Nick? Why ever were Lily and Budgie best friends? Could there be a more gullible person than Lily? Why did 5-year-old Kiki speak like an adolescent? Why was the character whose secrets caused untold heartache a total cipher? Why did gossipy Aunt Julie keep her mouth shut when it really counted? What was with all the smoking and drinking? And Nick’s “piratical” eyes? Wasn’t ...more
Some questions:
What was the real attraction between Lily and Nick? Why ever were Lily and Budgie best friends? Could there be a more gullible person than Lily? Why did 5-year-old Kiki speak like an adolescent? Why was the character whose secrets caused untold heartache a total cipher? Why did gossipy Aunt Julie keep her mouth shut when it really counted? What was with all the smoking and drinking? And Nick’s “piratical” eyes? Wasn’t ...more

Jul 01, 2013
-Bookish Gal-
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
No One
Recommended to -Bookish Gal- by:
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

Buddy read with Alexa
This book has been on my shelf for years and I'm so thankful that I finally picked it up because it was such a pleasure! While we were reading, Alexa pointed out that it's basically Gossip Girl but set in the 1940's and I couldn't agree more. I loved the setting which was part Rhode Island beach town and part New York City. I also enjoyed the dual timelines which I'm learning seems to be a thing in historical fiction. The story spans over a bunch of summers and recounts Lily ...more
This book has been on my shelf for years and I'm so thankful that I finally picked it up because it was such a pleasure! While we were reading, Alexa pointed out that it's basically Gossip Girl but set in the 1940's and I couldn't agree more. I loved the setting which was part Rhode Island beach town and part New York City. I also enjoyed the dual timelines which I'm learning seems to be a thing in historical fiction. The story spans over a bunch of summers and recounts Lily ...more

The cover of A Hundred Summers immediately reminded me of Tigers in Red Weather, a book that both made me cringe and feverishly read to the end. The descriptions sounded relatively similar too, and so I was in no particular hurry to get started on this one. After having it in my purse for a few days, I finally picked it up on the subway ride home and was transfixed. For the first time, in a long time, I was savouring the taste of the words on my tongue rather than racing to the finish line. Ther
...more

I loved this book! It is set in the 1930's along the ocean in Rhode Island and tells of the love story of Lily Dane and Nick Greenwald. The story flips between 1932 when they first met to 1938 when they meet again. This book sort of reminded me of an old movie...a little sappy, a little dramatic but very tender and loving. It is a perfect summer beach read!
...more

4.5 stars!
Another great historical fiction by Beatriz Williams. Though set in some of the same time period as Along the Infinite Sea ( my first novel by her that I read a couple of weeks ago ) it covers a completely different place and a different occurrence in history. This covered the great New England hurricane of 1938, set in the fictional oceanfront community of Seaview, Rhode Island.
Summer 1938 : Lily Dane has just returned to Seaview with her family expecting another placid summer season ...more
Another great historical fiction by Beatriz Williams. Though set in some of the same time period as Along the Infinite Sea ( my first novel by her that I read a couple of weeks ago ) it covers a completely different place and a different occurrence in history. This covered the great New England hurricane of 1938, set in the fictional oceanfront community of Seaview, Rhode Island.
Summer 1938 : Lily Dane has just returned to Seaview with her family expecting another placid summer season ...more

Was OK - to be fair, this is not my type of book. It started out in a very promising fashion but got increasingly over the top and melodramatic as it went on. The men's dialogue is SUPER cheesy; this might have been a record number of eye rolls for me. (Well, maybe not....I forgot about the one Nicholas Sparks book I read.)
On the up side, some interesting 1930's atmosphere and some memorable characters. I especially liked flamboyant and flirtatious Aunt Julie and stoic Mrs. Hubert.
Just a little ...more
On the up side, some interesting 1930's atmosphere and some memorable characters. I especially liked flamboyant and flirtatious Aunt Julie and stoic Mrs. Hubert.
Just a little ...more

This was the first book I've read by Beatriz Williams and I thought it was pretty good. She threw in some interesting twists and zingers here and there, even though for the most part those twists didn't surprise me. The 1930's and the characters were described well. I do have to mention that it seemed that all the characters were either chain smokers or borderline alcoholics,or both, but then it was the time of Prohibition after all. Picking up a drink or lighting another cigarette seemed to be
...more

A good read for hot summer days. Family secrets, inter-family entanglements, first love and the inevitable heartbreak that follows, make up this romance set in the 1930s. The wealthy with old money summering at the beach, their hypocrisies and prejudices in full view, makes an interesting subplot.
Even with Mother Nature lending a hand, the ending was predictable. Overall a solid four stars.
Even with Mother Nature lending a hand, the ending was predictable. Overall a solid four stars.

A Hundred Summers
By
Beatriz Williams
My"in a nutshell" summary...
An oceanfront community, a scandal, secrets and the scorching summer sun...OMG...this has the ingredients for an amazing summer book!
My thoughts after reading this book...
It certainly does not take long to totally fall in love with this book. I loved Lily from the start and was totally suspicious of Budgie immediately. A book is always fun when there is a sort of obnoxious bad girl who is overpowering the more quiet lovely girl...no ...more
By
Beatriz Williams
My"in a nutshell" summary...
An oceanfront community, a scandal, secrets and the scorching summer sun...OMG...this has the ingredients for an amazing summer book!
My thoughts after reading this book...
It certainly does not take long to totally fall in love with this book. I loved Lily from the start and was totally suspicious of Budgie immediately. A book is always fun when there is a sort of obnoxious bad girl who is overpowering the more quiet lovely girl...no ...more

I've spent a lot of time lately going through Beatriz Williams books. Luckily did I have a lot of them available as audiobooks. Like this one. It's a pure joy listening to Williams books.
In A Hundred Summers are we introduced to Lily Dane who has returned to the summerhouse at Seaview, Rhode Island. However, her peaceful summer is interrupted when Nick and Budgie Greenwald arrives. The couple has just married and they are there to restore Budgie's family's old house. Lily and Budgie used to ...more
In A Hundred Summers are we introduced to Lily Dane who has returned to the summerhouse at Seaview, Rhode Island. However, her peaceful summer is interrupted when Nick and Budgie Greenwald arrives. The couple has just married and they are there to restore Budgie's family's old house. Lily and Budgie used to ...more

Beatriz Williams loves to write historical fiction and I love to read it.
The historical event of this book, A Hundred Summers, centers on The Great Hurricane of 1938, which roared into Rhode Island on September 21, 1938. Hurricanes in the North East have a 1% chance of occurring each year, averaging once every hundred summers. The weather though, knows nothing of statistics... Hurricane Sandy struck less than 100 years later, in 2012.
The 'heroine' of this book is Lily Dane. Her best friend is Bu ...more
The historical event of this book, A Hundred Summers, centers on The Great Hurricane of 1938, which roared into Rhode Island on September 21, 1938. Hurricanes in the North East have a 1% chance of occurring each year, averaging once every hundred summers. The weather though, knows nothing of statistics... Hurricane Sandy struck less than 100 years later, in 2012.
The 'heroine' of this book is Lily Dane. Her best friend is Bu ...more

Lots of people are calling this a good " beach " or " summer read" and I agree. Set in the 1930's on the Rhode Island coast, it is a romance with lots of twists and turns and a glimpse of high society at a time when everything seemed to be a scandal. I liked the main characters Nick, Lily , and even Budgie (who gets to be the one we're not supposed to like) . It was an interesting time period , and I kept thinking of my grandmother who was part of this generation when women's lives were so diffe
...more

Set in the 1930's, switching between two timelines we meet four characters that intersect between each others lives.
Lily Dane (a great name) is our protagonist and she's summering in Seaview, RI with her family when her old BFF Budgie screeches into town with her ex-lover. Slowly, the timelines converge and we discover what happened in the past to create the future.
This was just ok for me, mostly predictable and not something I'll remember long into the future. It was a good summer read, even t ...more
Lily Dane (a great name) is our protagonist and she's summering in Seaview, RI with her family when her old BFF Budgie screeches into town with her ex-lover. Slowly, the timelines converge and we discover what happened in the past to create the future.
This was just ok for me, mostly predictable and not something I'll remember long into the future. It was a good summer read, even t ...more

Terrible. Bad. Awful. Resist your urge to identify this book as your 2013 beach read and just walk away. Terrible, impatient character development. You can't even begin to figure out why the two, main female characters - Lily and Budgie - ever became friends, much less had a conversation. Contrived plot developments. I read "Tigers in Red Weather" last summer and was looking for something similar for August - this ain't it. I left this book on the shelf at a vacation house we rented - and felt b
...more

I don't know about you, but I rarely have truly visceral reactions to books. I obviously love reading and get really excited about them sometimes, but I can't remember the last time that I was so thrown by a plot twist that I've reared back in my chair, shouted creative expletives, and slapped something.
I got to a certain point in A Hundred Summers, though, and that's exactly what happened. I had to slap something.
(view spoiler)
...more
I got to a certain point in A Hundred Summers, though, and that's exactly what happened. I had to slap something.
(view spoiler)
...more

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Pure and simple this is a gripping love story that spans nearly a decade in the lives of Lily, Nick and Budgie. Lily has come to Seaview, Rhode Island where her socialite family have a summer home. She plans to relax and spend time getting over the difficult breakup with her fiancé, Nick. Budgie, Lily’s best friend suddenly appears with Nick and surprisingly they are married (gasp), which sends Lily into a heartbreak like she has never known before because she knows that she still loves him. The
...more

4.5 stars!!!
I was enchanted by this book pretty much within the first page, and I wasn't expecting that! I loved the character of Lily, she's an identifiable personality. And Nick. Oh Nick. Loved them together. What a crazy ride of a love story.
I loved the way it alternated chapters with time periods, giving you a little bit of the puzzle at a time. The slow reveal of the "true" story was great and I built up so much anticipation. Truly I just got emotionally involved in this story and couldn't ...more
I was enchanted by this book pretty much within the first page, and I wasn't expecting that! I loved the character of Lily, she's an identifiable personality. And Nick. Oh Nick. Loved them together. What a crazy ride of a love story.
I loved the way it alternated chapters with time periods, giving you a little bit of the puzzle at a time. The slow reveal of the "true" story was great and I built up so much anticipation. Truly I just got emotionally involved in this story and couldn't ...more

This is a lovely book based on a true unique time period....the 1930’s.
This beach read story wrenched at my heart and I was so saddened for the characters. Inside, I was wanting everything to come out ok.
The characters are very relatable and are brought to life by well crafted writing by the author. I began to relate to the couples as I was drawn into there struggles, tragedies and fears.
In the end, the overall themes of joy friendship/companionship and love.
Overall this is a very enjoyable b ...more
This beach read story wrenched at my heart and I was so saddened for the characters. Inside, I was wanting everything to come out ok.
The characters are very relatable and are brought to life by well crafted writing by the author. I began to relate to the couples as I was drawn into there struggles, tragedies and fears.
In the end, the overall themes of joy friendship/companionship and love.
Overall this is a very enjoyable b ...more

Lily and Budgie's families spend their summers in Rhode Island. Budgie is beautiful and always out to have fun but reckless. Lily is more serious and beautiful in her own way. While in college Budgie is seeing Graham Pendleton and Lily falls in love with his friend, Nick Greenwald. Years later Budgie shows up at Seaview with her new husband, Nick. The story is told in two separate time lines, 1931 when they all meet and 1938 when Budgie comes back to renovate their cottage. That summer there is
...more

Mindlessly enjoyable as I was reading it, but unbearably cheesy and melodramatic at points. And normally I wouldn't mind that if the story was juicy enough, but the insta-love and black and white characters (Lily and Nick are essentially perfect and Budgie and Graham are eeeevil - what happened to shades of grey?) took the annoyance factor up a notch.
...more

I really love Beatriz Williams' books. I was sucked into this one from the first page. Extremely well written. I read it all in one sitting. This is a perfect summer beach read. Too bad I'm too impatient to wait for our August vacation.
...more

Aug 31, 2021
Tracy
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
library-overdrive-listen-audiobook
Interesting and dynamic plot overflowing with flawed characters hiding lots of secrets. Only wish the ending provided more information on what becomes of the main characters a few years further into the future.
Overall, enjoyable and easy to finish in on sitting.
Overall, enjoyable and easy to finish in on sitting.

This was my first novel by this author and I found myself completely immersed into it. This was historical fiction based in the 1930's. This is an era that I love to read about, so it was easy to be pulled into this. The author did a great job at creating the setting, especially with the dialogue, but also with the mind set. The romance was a large part of this book, but it was more in a 'star crossed lovers' way. There were also some great twists woven in. So 4 stars.
...more

This was entertaining, but a bit melodramatic. I liked the setting - 1930s New York and Rhode Island - and the love story was romantic and believable. It veered a bit into soap opera at times, though, so I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.
...more

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topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Play Book Tag: A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams – 3 Stars | 1 | 7 | Feb 28, 2021 08:41AM | |
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. College sweethearts reunite after a storm wipes out seaside town; every other chapter goes back and forth between 1932 and 1938 seaside town where friends reunite [s] | 7 | 463 | Mar 27, 2018 08:44PM | |
Play Book Tag: A Hundred Summers/ Beatriz Williams - 4 stars | 4 | 23 | Aug 06, 2017 01:38PM | |
Summer Reads | 1 | 26 | Jul 01, 2015 02:32PM |
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