Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Read advance reader review of The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams

The Summer Wives

by Beatriz Williams

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Published:
  • Jul 2018, 384 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Reviews


Page 1 of 6
There are currently 41 member reviews
for The Summer Wives
Order Reviews by:
  • Mary B. (Laguna Woods, CA)
    Escape to Summer Island
    This book is an enjoyable read about the haves and have-nots on an island off of Long Island. The wealthy summer residents spend most of their time drunk and the year round poor residents work hard & are not appreciated by the summer visitors.
  • georgialadyj
    I loved this book!
    This was the first book I have read by this author. I have read good reviews of this author's other books so I was excited to receive this ARC. I loved this book. I enjoyed the story and the writing style. The descriptions were vivid and I almost felt like I was on the beach with the characters I will definitely recommend this book to my friends.
  • Chris (CA)
    Summer Wives
    The story grabbed me from the beginning and I didn't want to stop reading. It is well written. Alternating between time periods and social classes helped build the suspense of the novel. What is the back story of these characters? What secrets are they hiding? I enjoyed reading about the summer lives of the wealthy. Are all island resort communities like this? The descriptions were so good that I felt as though I were there. I felt I got to know the characters fairly well. I cared about several of them and just felt sorry for others. I did think the story dragged a little toward the end and then the pace picked up again. There is much to discus here for book clubs. I look forward to reading more from this author.
  • Tracey S.
    Loved this book!
    I really loved this book! I had never read anything by Beatriz Williams and I want to read all that she has written. I like reading about families that vacation somewhere year after year and those who remain year-round, like Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard, for example and how the locals treat the vacationers. I was hooked from the beginning with wondering why Miranda has returned to the island. But I was a little confused at first because the book jumped from time period to another. But eventually I kept it all straight and enjoyed the book and all it's characters.
  • Shannon L. (Portland, OR)
    Summer Wives is a great read!
    This was my introduction to Beatriz Williams and I will read her again. While I have mixed thoughts about this book I will start by saying I enjoyed it very much. The book has a book that has everything from love to angst, genteel versus real down-home folks, secrets, murder and redemption and Williams manages to pull it off!

    My number one rule in reviewing a novel is there has to be at least one character that I care about and in Summer Wives that was easy. Where I was disappointed is that I wanted just a little more depth in her main characters. I found them, especially the upper society, a little too shallow and wanted more.

    That said, the settings were beautifully written and I could picture them even though I have never been in one of these communities. I wanted to go visit....The story line had me right there most of the time but it began to drag towards the end. The predictability left me wondering if Williams was trying to suggest more mystery than she had created or she really didn't know how to finish it.

    Beatriz Williams is a great story-teller. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who just wanted to be entertained with a good story and didn't need award winning depth. Thank you Beatriz...I am ready for your next story.
  • Sharon R. (Deerfield, IL)
    First Love/Summer Love
    First loves, enduring love and family love all play a part in this spectacular novel. Alternating between social and economic classes, Ms. Williams invites us into the world of privilege and societal nuances during the 1930s off the eastern coast of America. Our heroine, Miranda, has just been exposed to the wealthy through the marriage of her mother into one of the areas most wealthy and influential families. Miranda wants to "fit in" as all girls her age do, but her educational background make it difficult for her to separate the "classes" that society as imposed upon the East Coast elite. Her father had taught her that everyone is equal, but this is clearly not the case in her stepfather's world.

    She struggles with wanting to be accepted by her peers and new stepsister and with the morality that she has grown up with.

    I had an extremely hard time putting this book down to carry on with "life". I encourage you to find your "beach" and curl up for the day to devour this book. If you, like me, have read all of Ms. Williams novels you will find yourself asking "When is the next one coming out?"
    Bravo, Beatriz, Bravo!
  • Terri C. (Litchfield, NH)
    Must read for this summer!
    The summer wives by Beatriz Williams was an excellent read gorgeously written and worth the time invested as I was transported to another place with friends I came to know and love. The author is truly talented and I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an engaging read during those precious summer moments when we seek out time to do what we love most. For me, that is relaxing with a great, well crafted book. This qualifies as a must read!

Read-Alikes

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket
    The Frozen River
    by Ariel Lawhon
    "I cannot say why it is so important that I make this daily record. Perhaps because I have been ...
  • Book Jacket
    Prophet Song
    by Paul Lynch
    Paul Lynch's 2023 Booker Prize–winning Prophet Song is a speedboat of a novel that hurtles...
  • Book Jacket: The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    by Lynda Cohen Loigman
    Lynda Cohen Loigman's delightful novel The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern opens in 1987. The titular ...
  • Book Jacket: Small Rain
    Small Rain
    by Garth Greenwell
    At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Book Jacket
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl disappears, leaving a mystery unsolved for fifty years.
Who Said...

We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.