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Book Summary and Reviews of A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

A Hundred Summers

by Beatriz Williams

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Published:
  • May 2013, 368 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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 Greenwalds decide to take up residence in Seaview.

Nick and Budgie Greenwald are an unwelcome specter from Lily's past: her former best friend and her former fiancé, now recently married - an event that set off a wildfire of gossip among the elite of Seaview, who have summered together for generations. Budgie's arrival to restore her family's old house puts her once more in the center of the community's social scene, and she insinuates herself back into Lily's friendship with an overpowering talent for seduction...and an alluring acquaintance from their college days, Yankees pitcher Graham Pendleton. But the ties that bind Lily to Nick are too strong and intricate to ignore, and the two are drawn back into long-buried dreams, despite their uneasy secrets and many emotional obligations.

Under the scorching summer sun, the unexpected truth of Budgie and Nick's marriage bubbles to the surface, and as a cataclysmic hurricane barrels unseen up the Atlantic and into New England, Lily and Nick must confront an emotional cyclone of their own, which will change their worlds forever.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Williams' sweeping saga of betrayal, sacrifice, and redemption trenchantly examines the often duplicitous nature of female friendships and family friendships." - Booklist

"Smart, delicious writing... Williams adds a signature touch of historic drama." - Library Journal

"A candidate for this year's big beach read...An elegant if somewhat old-fashioned delayed-gratification seaside romance with a flavor of Daphne du Maurier." - Kirkus Reviews

"Novels as masterfully done as A Hundred Summers come along only about that often. Beatriz Williams delivers an intricately woven tale of friendship, betrayal, old families, and closely guarded secrets. It is what every beach book should aspire to be – smart and engrossing." - Elin Hilderbrand, author of Beautiful Day and the bestselling Summerland

"A Hundred Summers sparkles like the New England summer sun. A brilliantly told tale of love lost and found, of friendship, and of family ties that strangle… Definitely a book for my keeper shelf." - Karen White New York Times-bestselling author of Sea Change

This information about A Hundred Summers 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

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Cathryn Conroy

This Is the Perfect Summer Read…a ChickLit Delight!
This is the perfect beach book—even if you can't make it to the sand and waves this year. It's sassy and fun with colorful characters, lots of romance, and a plot that is so gripping you won't want to stop reading. It is nearly perfect ChickLit!

Taking place in 1931-32 and the summer of 1938, the book tells the story of Smith College senior Lily Dane, who with help from her best friend (more like frenemy) Budgie Byrne, she meets the love of her life, Dartmouth senior Nick Greenwald. Lily and Nick are not only thwarted in so many heartbreaking ways from being together, but also betrayed by themselves and others. The chapters alternate between the two aforementioned time periods, focusing on Lily and Nick's early relationship in 1931-32 and an unexpected reunion in the summer of 1938 at Seaview, Rhode Island where Lily's family has "summered" for generations. The late September hurricane swirling in the Atlantic rivals the hurricane brewing in the hearts of these characters.

Beautifully written by Beatriz Williams, this book is both tender and passionate with a gripping storyline that just won't let go.

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Author Information

Beatriz Williams Author Biography

Beatriz Williams is the New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author of The Golden Hour, The Summer Wives, The Secret Life of Violet Grant, A Hundred Summers, and several other works of historical fiction, including three novels in collaboration with fellow bestselling authors Karen White and Lauren Willig. A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, Beatriz worked as a communications and corporate strategy consultant in New York and London before she turned her attention to writing novels that combine her passion for history with an obsessive devotion to voice and characterization. Beatriz's books have won numerous awards, have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and appear regularly in bestseller lists around the ...

... Full Biography
Link to Beatriz Williams's Website

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