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Summer Island  By  cover art

Summer Island

By: Kristin Hannah
Narrated by: Joyce Bean
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Publisher's summary

Thirty-four-year-old Ruby Bridge is a not-too-successful comedienne who uses her mother, a nationally-syndicated "moral and spiritual counselor" as the main fodder for her cynical, rather bitter humor. Her mother Nora, long divorced from Ruby's father, is a woman whose past is just about to catch up with her - in the form of blackmail by a former lover.

After an accident (an attempted suicide?) Ruby returns to care for her stricken mother - bitterly resenting the fact that once again her mother's life has colonized hers. When she is approached by a publisher to write a biography of her mother, Ruby is desperate for the princely sum offered. Yet her research into her mother's past reveals a woman very different from the one Ruby expected. And what began as "mommy dearest" ends as a love story - not only between mother and daughter, but involving two very different men who play a key role in linking the past to the present.

©2001 Kristin Hannah (P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Summer Island

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

I was a bit disappointed with this read. Maybe because it was an earlier writing than the ones I’ve been reading; earlier in her career. This just did not capture me and hold my attention as so many of her others. The love scenes were a bit steamier than I like but glad to know that her more recent writings are tremendous! Love this author even though not happy with this particular read.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful!

This book reminds you not to judge a book by the cover, or a person by a photograph. Written in a wonderful way not to judge other people, because we don't know their history and the why or how they got to where they are in life.
The characters were real and genuine. Kirsten Hannah is one of the best story writers of our time!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Thought it would be a typical story

The story line has been done and done again, but having grown up in a broken home, I appreciated the story line and it was a nice grown up reminder that we really don't know all that we think to know about things that happened in our family / families life when we were kids.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

AMAZING BOOK!!!

This book is wonderful!!!! I listen while I run - found myself crying while running... WOW! I am so sad this book is over!!!!!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Sweet story of forgiveness

This tale is early Kristin Hannah, and a sweet (sometimes sappy) tale of forgiveness and redemption. The story is fairly light and moves along nicely and predictably. I didn’t like it as much as Hannah’s later works -The Nightingale, Four Winds, The Great Alone, etc. it reminded me of “Beaches” a little… while I’d rate it as worth the credit if you’re looking for light fiction, I WOULD caution about the narration. The narrator was like listening to a sing-song Siri, with perfect, proper diction and flat character “voices”. Make sure you listen to a sample… I am fairly tolerant, but found myself almost numbed to boredom with the narrators voice. I’ll probably make an effort to avoid further books narrated by Joyce Bean.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Narration is not done well

The story is good and I usually don’t complain about the narration but this is done very poorly! It sounds automated with some of the characters. It was a huge disappointment.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Over descriptive for my taste

If you are the kind of person that likes a very descriptive, detailed story, this book is for you. Personally I like a lot more action so this book was not for me. I felt like it drug in a lot of spots, and it could have been done in an hour while still including the whole story. If you have a challenged relationship with your mother, would not recommend it.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Nice summer read

Easy listening and I loved how the reader was able to transition the audience from character to character so smoothly. I always knew just who was in character alk the time.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful escape book

The perfect antidote to a wintertime cold and cough was being taken way to Summer Island and its beautifully crafted characters and well-spun story. I laughed; I cried; I cheered. There was lots of real-world wisdom imparted, and just the right amount of love and forgiveness to redeem the mistakes of the oh-so-human characters without making them too perfect or the plot too contrived. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved this book!

The story in this book was very interesting and the narrator if I could give her a 10 I would.

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2 people found this helpful