Summer Longing

By: Jamie Brenner

Narrated by: Molly Parker Myers

Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

When a baby is left on the doorstep of a Cape Cod beach house, an unlikely group of women risks all they hold dear to harbor and protect her in this thrilling story from a USA Today best-selling author.

Ruth Cooperman arrives in beautiful beachside Provincetown for her retirement, renting the perfect waterfront cottage while she searches for her forever home. After years of hard work and making peace with life's compromises, Ruth is looking forward to a carefree summer of solitude. But when she finds a baby girl abandoned on her doorstep, Ruth turns to her new neighbors for help and is drawn into the drama of the close-knit community.

The appearance of the mystery baby has an emotional ripple effect through the women in town, including Amelia Cabral, the matriarch who lost her own child decades earlier; Elise Douglas, owner of the tea shop who gave up her dream of becoming a mother; and teenage local Jaci Barros, who feels trapped by her parents' expectations. Ruth, caring for a baby for the first time in 30 years, even reaches out to her own estranged daughter, Olivia, summoning her to Provincetown in hopes of a reconciliation.

As summer unfolds and friends and family care for the infant, alliances are made, relationships are tested, and secrets are uncovered. But the unconditional love for a child in need just might bring Ruth and the women of Provincetown exactly what they have been longing for themselves.

With heartfelt storytelling, Summer Longing is Jamie Brenner's eagerly anticipated return to Provincetown; another unforgettable tale about motherhood, friendship, and finding your way home.

"Welcome to the gold standard of summertime escapism." (Elin Hilderbrand, number one New York Times best-selling author of Summer of '69)

©2020 Jamie Brenner (P)2020 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Brenner's novel about a retiree's second act in Provincetown is a delightful escape wherever you are."—People magazine

"A baby left on a doorstep begins Summer Longing, and the mystery pulls us along by the heartstrings to find out what happens to the endearing, maddening, fascinating families in a dreamy coastal town."—Nancy Thayer, best-selling author of Girls Of Summer

"Jamie Brenner's latest glittering read is her best summer book yet, a combination of page-turning plot and heartfelt human connection that will stay with readers long after the last sunset of the season. With Summer Longing, Jamie Brenner draws a world of hope and second chances that will leave readers wondering, with newfound optimism, what the next chapter might hold for their own lives."—Kristy Woodson Harvey, author of Slightly South of Simple

Loved it!

I really enjoyed this story and narration! I love Cape Cod and it was a compelling story that captured the feeling of summers there. The narrator was clear and really captured the multiple characters well.

Narrator destroyed the story.

I like Jaime Brenner's books. However, I couldn't concentrate on the story . . . the narrator sounded like she was reading text for the first time. I listen to 3-5 books a week and this was the worst "listen" I've had in months. I would have liked the book a lot more otherwise.

Summer by the Sea

I enjoyed listening to this summer read. The storyline was fun albeit somewhat predictable as to “the mystery baby”. Imagery was well-captured, if not as beautifully described as in other beach novels I’ve read. All’s well that ends well in the plot except didn’t like where Ruth ended up.

Great summer story. AWFUL Narration.

Loved this sweet story and had to give it fewer stars than it deserved due to the narration. I felt like I was listening to a robot trying to enunciate every single syllable.

Fairly decent summer story, really rough narration

Book is okay. Prose are fine. It feels like an outline sometimes. Iit could have been fleshed out more. I enjoyed the setting a lot, and that was written well. Author’s treatment of chronic pain isn’t great. Is back pain tied to stress for some people? Sure. Will losing a stressful job, and having a summer romance cure chronic back pain for some people? Maybe. Is it a story that needs telling when it perpetuates stereotypes about chronic illness and pain? No. And, this is a spoiler, both female characters giving up their careers for love while the men give up absolutely nothing is another story that doesn’t need repeating. Pregnancy loss, infant abandonment and adoption are treated with a clumsy, thoughtless hand. A lot of serious subjects used as plot props, and poorly.
The narration is Cyborgian. Someone said it was like listening to your GPS read to you, and it is. Really, really tough to take.

Horrible Narration

I wish I could have finished but the narration sounded like my GPS was reading. It was like nails on a chalkboard.