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Book Summary and Reviews of The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable

The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable

The Book of Summer

by Michelle Gable

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  • May 2017, 416 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The bestselling author of The Paris Apartment and I'll See You in Paris, Michelle Gable now transports readers to Nantucket.

Physician Bess Codman has returned to her family's Nantucket compound, Cliff House, for the first time in four years. Her great-grandparents built Cliff House almost a century before, but due to erosion, the once-grand home will soon fall into the sea. Though she's purposefully avoided the island, Bess must now pack up the house and deal with her mother, a notorious town rabble-rouser, who refuses to leave.

The Book of Summer unravels the power and secrets of Cliff House as told through the voices of Ruby Packard, a bright-eyed and idealistic newlywed on the eve of WWII, the home's definitive guestbook, and Bess herself. Bess's grandmother always said it was a house of women, and by the very last day of the very last summer at Cliff House, Bess will understand the truth of her grandmother's words in ways she never contemplated.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"A sure bet for women's-fiction fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Nantucket novels." - Booklist

"Gable cleverly illuminates the past, revealing how it mirrors the present. This is a splendid multigenerational novel about the strength of the women of Cliff House." - Publishers Weekly

This information about The Book of Summer was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Shyeyes

Book of Summer - by Michelle Gable
I received this book through BookBrowse, an ARC. I am so glad I got this book. It’s so good! It is about a house, Cliff House, that is slowly eroding into the sea on Nantucket. The house has been in Bess Codman’s family for eons. This book is fascinating as it has a “Book of Summer” a journal of sorts that residents have been writing about their stays in Cliff House since the house was built. We get to learn of the people who have stayed at Cliff House and about the lives of the locals, and all who have come through over the years. There is the past and present blended together to weave a beautiful tale of the women who lived, and the lives they created. I enjoyed this very much! Can’t wait for the next book.

Deborah P. (Dunnellon, FL)

The Book Of Summer
Quoting the character Ruby, "Three cheers for summer. May it be made only of long Days". I suggest that some of those coming days include reading Michelle Gable's new novel "The Book Of Summer". The Book of Summer is set on Nantucket and is the story of three generations of women and their summer house. The time period alternates between the early 1940s and the present.

I have vacationed on Nantucket and appreciated that the author based the novel on real situations that exist on the island.

Do not be intimidated by the book's length, 404 pages in the advanced readers' copy. Michelle Gable is to be commended for not wasting one word or subjecting the reader to superfluous narrative. In my opinion Gable is a master of the written word and character development. In my 40 years of reading it seems that often one character stands out and the others exist as support. Not so in The Book Of Summer. I found that each of the principles were fully developed by the author and I looked forward to the change in the timeline and different story lines.

In my opinion this is an exceptional novel that entertains and informs. It is set to be published just in time for summer.

Sharon R. (Deerfield, IL)

A House and A Book
This wonderful book is about a summer house and it's guest/family book.
When I was growing up my family owned property and a house on the shores of Lake Huron not far from the Straits of Mackinac. We had notebooks that my father would record all the ships that passed "up" through the straits and "down" to Port Huron, Detroit and points beyond. Dad also recorded the coming and goings of family and visitors. We still have these notebooks and dutifully record when we arrive and when we leave, but without our parents in residence, it has become more a chore than a privilege.
Ms. Gable has captured the longings of summer homes and their residents in this historical novel that flows in alternating chapters from present day to the years of World War II. Showing timeless summers that are for catching up with friends, maybe a little romance and relaxing seaside with a cocktail or two. The author has truly shown what it means to hold on to your summer memories and also, what you can let go.
Highly recommended!

Beverly S. (Chesterton, IN)

A Very Interesting Story
This is my first novel that I have read by Michelle Gable. I found her writing style quite enjoyable. This book shared a family history during two time periods. Present day covered 2008-2013, and historical covered 1939-1948. Both time periods saw weddings, births, wars and deaths. Some will make you laugh and some will bring you to tears. My favorite character in this book is actually a majestic house named Clift House located in Sconset, Nantucket. This beautiful mansion is the heart and soul of this family.
I think book clubs would really enjoy this book and I feel it would be a true gem for lovers of historical fiction.

Marjorie H. (Woodstock, GA)

THE Book of THE Summer
I predict this will be the hit beach book of '17. I've read most all the Nantucket beach books (all very good), but this one has a twist. The main character is beach erosion. Yes, you heard me. Ms. Gable presents us with the requisite Nantucket characters (all very good), but the main character is the dangerous beach erosion and loss of homes. In this particular story, a very big, very old, very cherished family home is getting ready to go into the Atlantic - very soon! Like now! The struggle to get Cissy out of the house is the structure of the book. And you'll want to jump into the pages and slap Cissy silly before it's all over. The timeframe goes back and forth between the present and WWII. Ms. Gable does an excellent job of keeping the strings untangled. There's a surprise at the end and it may be something you expected as you read along. I couldn't put it down - didn't want it to end. Having read "The Paris Apartment", I knew what a good author Michelle Gable is, but she outdid herself on this one. Romantics and environmentalists alike will sit up in the wee hours with this one.

Nancy L. (Staunton, VA)

Summer Secrets
"The Book of Summer" by Michelle Gable is the story of three generations of women and their lives in and around their summer home on Nantucket Island. But it's not quite as simple as that sounds. This novel is filled from beginning to end with secrets and surprises. The historical parts were my favorite since they dealt with the attitudes and worries in America at the time of World War II.

The present day parts are quite a bit lighter and, at times, comical. You know you are in for a ride when the book starts with one of the main characters, Cissy, riding her bicycle to pick up her daughter Bess at the Nantucket Airport. There is much to love about this book. It was hard to put down and would make for a great beach read.

...21 more reader reviews

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Author Information

Michelle Gable Author Biography

Michelle Gable is the New York Times Bestselling author of A Paris Apartment and I'll See You in Paris. She is also a mom, wife, investor relations executive, Chargers season ticketholder, tennis player, and card-carrying member of the Chickasaw Nation.

After growing up in San Diego, Michelle attended The College of William & Mary in Virginia, where she majored in accounting as most aspiring writers do. She currently resides in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, with her husband, two daughters, lazy cat, and one very bitey rabbit.

Link to Michelle Gable's Website

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