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Tuesday, July 7, 2015

The Summer of Good Intentions: A Novel by Wendy Francis

The Summer of Good Intentions: A Novel
The Summer of Good Intentions: A Novel
by Wendy Francis
Edition: Paperback
Price: $7.86

3.0 out of 5 stars Possible Mild SpoilersJuly 7, 2015
Book Description:
"Cape Cod summers are supposed to remain reassuringly the same, but everything falls apart when three sisters and their families come together for their annual summer vacation—and they are carrying more secrets than suitcases.
Maggie is the oldest. She feels responsible for managing the summer house and making sure everything is as it always has been. But she’s hurt that her parents’ recent divorce has destroyed the family’s comfortable summer routines, and her own kids seem to be growing up at high speed. Is it too late to have another baby?
Jess is the middle sister. She loves her job but isn’t as passionate about her marriage. She’s not sure she can find the courage to tell Maggie what she’s done—much less talk to her husband about it.
Virgie is the youngest, her dad’s favorite. She’s always been the career girl, but now there’s a man in her life. Her television job on the west coast is beyond stressful, and it’s taking its toll on her—emotionally and physically. She’s counting on this vacation to erase the symptoms she’s not talking about.
The Herington girls are together again, with their husbands and kids, for another summer in the family’s old Cape Cod house. When their mother, Gloria, announces she’s coming for an unscheduled visit—with her new boyfriend—no one is more surprised than their father, Arthur, who has not quite gotten over his divorce. Still, everyone manages to navigate the challenges of living grown-up lives in close quarters, until an accident reveals a new secret that brings everyone together in heartbreak…and then healing.
Poignant, compelling, and so real that you could shake the sand out of the pages,The Summer of Good Intentions is by a rising star who aims her fiction square at the heart of readers who love Elin Hilderbrand, Dorothea Benton Frank, and Mary Kay Andrews."



I can't rant about this book nor can I rave about it. All I can say is that it was more depressing than I would have liked to have read over the Fourth of July weekend.

Three grown up sisters, a set of divorced parents (mother with her "boy" toy!) and a beach house...naturally each family is having some sort of crisis/issues and hopefully a month/two weeks/week at the family beach house should put things into perspective. Discussions with your sisters over copious glasses of wine or fruity drinks should help you figure out what you want to do -no this doesn't happen though. this book is filled with nothing you have come to expect for a summer beach read.

I could not connect with any of the characters. They were too cliched for my tastes. I felt that too many tragedies befell this family over the space of a couple of weeks. I was depressed reading this. Frankly, to be honest I could not finish this book - how could things get better when one of the main characters is diagnosed with a fatal disease?

*ARC supplied by publisher.

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