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A Certain Summer Patricia Beard Books

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A Certain Summer Patricia Beard Books

A Certain Summer was set in an exclusive neighborhood on the East coast. The stringent community rules on ownership and family pedigree reminded me of my visit to a similar neighborhood in New York, Breezy Point. Three years after the end of World War II, Helen and her son Jack lived in limbo waiting to see if her husband Arthur would move off the list of soldiers missing in action and return home. The seaside location was the backdrop to a story about romance, loss, and family.
Frank and Peter both vied for Helen's love through their relationship with Jack. Frank was Arthur's best friend growing up and was the last one to see him alive. As Frank's duty toward his godson, Jack, intensified so did his feelings for Helen. Peter was a neighbor to Helen, and my pick for her romantic interest. He was charming and respectful, and seemed to genuinely care for Helen and Jack. However, there simply wasn't enough build up for these romances. The conversations between Helen and the men were hardly more than friendly banter when suddenly the men cared deeply for Helen. Helen's own feelings for the men also happened without any real basis. While I liked her, I wanted more. More of a reason to root for her, more of glimpse into her feelings for her husband and potential feelings for another man, more of an understanding of her background and who she was as a woman.

There wasn't enough time to delve into the romances because the author spent so much time describing Max, the army search and rescue dog Peter had. I am not a dog person, so I wasn't interested in the excessive stories about hero dogs in war. Much of this book felt like short novellas loosely tied together. Several minor characters appeared for a few pages, which aided in the general effort to describe the difficult reentry of war veterans back home, but didn't further Helen's story line. I thought the ending was extremely obvious, but again, there was hardly any build up to the shocking resolution.

The best thing about this novel was the location! I could see and feel all the details of the tiny seaside town. But this wasn't my favorite summer war mystery, for that I would recommend Folly Beach.

Please read more of my reviews on my blog: [...]


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A Certain Summer Patricia Beard Books Reviews

A CERTAIN SUMMER by Patricia Beard

This is a great time for this book to come out. The nostalgia of the end of World War 2 has made it hard for people today to realize the cost in emotion, and spirit because of the ravages of war. I think that this book truly shows in its fictional characters and places, the true human cost of war. I would recommend this book to all family, friends and relations of our modern soldiers so that they can begin to comprehend the devastation and difficulty that our modern soldiers are facing. I think that this book encompasses the dramatic scope of life after war. The cost of the individuals of the family is not done when they return home, or are declared lost. The young family has been torn asunder by the war. Helen is alone, lost while she is waiting for the official declaration of her husband’s death. 
He has been missing for four years, and she has adapted to life without him. But the only place she can breathe is the remote island town, Wauregan a summer colony that has a protective and supportive atmosphere. Jack her young son is on the cusp of manhood, fourteen years old and about to go to boarding school at the end of summer. He misses his father, and the house in Wauregan is where he can remember his father the most. He has many lessons to learn this summer;
most of them are letting someone go from his short life. Peter is a war hero,
who has PTSD, and many ghosts in his closet. 
This summer he needs to find a new path in life.
Liked a lot did not end how I thought!
I really enjoyed reading about the people in this quiet summer community and the ways in which they must readjust their lives, their relationships, and their thinking in the wake of WWII; they have to, since the men who fought in that war were changed by their experiences, even if they won't talk about them. The clues to some of those experiences are chilling. Beard portrays the place of Wauregan and the period of the late 1940 very vividly. I liked many of her main characters a great deal.
A Certain Summer by Patricia Beard

Challenges read for Goodreads, Ebook, Historical Fiction

Book cover Beautiful

I loved this book. It reminded me of summers on Long Island and my great uncle's beach house. Helen and Jack Wadsworth are in a sort of limbo, their beloved husband and father, Arthur, did not come home after the war. He is missing and no one, including the government, seems to know the circumstances--no one but Frank, Arthur's best friend and fellow OSS partner.

Helen and Jack retreat to the family home on the fictitious island of Wauregan off the coast of Long Island in the summer of 1948. Here we get a glimpse of what life was like immediately after the war for the soldiers that did make it back--the nightmares, drinking, violence and tears. Peter, new neighbor of Helen's and grandson of "The Judge" is one of these soldiers. He and his war dog, Max, spend the summer in the process of healing and find a little love along the way.

Infused with mystery, loss, betrayal and finally understanding, A Certain Summer proved to be the perfect summer read.
A Certain Summer was set in an exclusive neighborhood on the East coast. The stringent community rules on ownership and family pedigree reminded me of my visit to a similar neighborhood in New York, Breezy Point. Three years after the end of World War II, Helen and her son Jack lived in limbo waiting to see if her husband Arthur would move off the list of soldiers missing in action and return home. The seaside location was the backdrop to a story about romance, loss, and family.
Frank and Peter both vied for Helen's love through their relationship with Jack. Frank was Arthur's best friend growing up and was the last one to see him alive. As Frank's duty toward his godson, Jack, intensified so did his feelings for Helen. Peter was a neighbor to Helen, and my pick for her romantic interest. He was charming and respectful, and seemed to genuinely care for Helen and Jack. However, there simply wasn't enough build up for these romances. The conversations between Helen and the men were hardly more than friendly banter when suddenly the men cared deeply for Helen. Helen's own feelings for the men also happened without any real basis. While I liked her, I wanted more. More of a reason to root for her, more of glimpse into her feelings for her husband and potential feelings for another man, more of an understanding of her background and who she was as a woman.

There wasn't enough time to delve into the romances because the author spent so much time describing Max, the army search and rescue dog Peter had. I am not a dog person, so I wasn't interested in the excessive stories about hero dogs in war. Much of this book felt like short novellas loosely tied together. Several minor characters appeared for a few pages, which aided in the general effort to describe the difficult reentry of war veterans back home, but didn't further Helen's story line. I thought the ending was extremely obvious, but again, there was hardly any build up to the shocking resolution.

The best thing about this novel was the location! I could see and feel all the details of the tiny seaside town. But this wasn't my favorite summer war mystery, for that I would recommend Folly Beach.

Please read more of my reviews on my blog [...]