That Summer

A Novel

By: Jennifer Weiner

Narrated by: Sutton Foster

Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Summer and “undisputed boss of the beach read” (The New York Times) comes another timely and deliciously twisty novel of intrigue, secrets, and the transformative power of female friendship.

Daisy Shoemaker can’t sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content. But her teenage daughter can be a handful, her husband can be distant, her work can feel trivial, and she has lots of acquaintances, but no real friends. Still, Daisy knows she’s got it good. So why is she up all night?

While Daisy tries to identify the root of her dissatisfaction, she’s also receiving misdirected emails meant for a woman named Diana Starling, whose email address is just one punctuation mark away from her own. While Daisy’s driving carpools, Diana is chairing meetings. While Daisy’s making dinner, Diana’s making plans to reorganize corporations. Diana’s glamorous, sophisticated, single-lady life is miles away from Daisy’s simpler existence. When an apology leads to an invitation, the two women meet and become friends. But, as they get closer, we learn that their connection was not completely accidental. Who IS this other woman, and what does she want with Daisy?

From the manicured Main Line of Philadelphia to the wild landscape of the Outer Cape, written with Jennifer Weiner’s signature wit and sharp observations, That Summer is a “compelling, nuanced novel” (Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post) about surviving our pasts, confronting our futures, and the sustaining bonds of friendship.

©2021 Jennifer Weiner, Inc. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Just blah

Had to exchange it, slow, boring and couldn’t keep my attention. Her books are hit or miss, I think this is a big miss.

Too "woke" and too dull...

This was my first Jennifer Weiner book, and clearly her novels aren't for me. 3 hours into it I'm soooo bored. Nothing is happening and it's all so mediocre. And the whole wokeness theme underlying it all is so annoying. Uninterested rich husband. A gay brother, with a couple of lines of Daisy wondering if Diana will be homophobic. Diana at dinner saying (about a failing manager who should be fired but wasn't), "White guys... especially white guys in a family business... they move upwards, or at least sideways." Would anyone write that about black guys in a novel? Why is it okay then to say something so ludicrous about white guys? After listening to that line, I decided to return the book for my credit back. Just not worth wasting the time or mental energy to continue on.

Only Jennifer W book I haven’t loved

Cliche and predictable. Surface treatment and falls into typical me too movement tropes. Would’ve enjoyed it maybe when I was 20 but the world is a whole lot more gray than the story acknowledges.

Almost good

I was enjoying this book until the authors politics was inserted in. No Thank you.

Good book

I enjoyed this book but as a mother of boys, I felt the author portrayed all young men as predators. This simply is not true.

Engaging and relatable as always

Just as in every other novel by Jennifer Weiner, this story was full of relatable personalities, small references to characters in other stories, and some exquisitely descriptive language. Jennifer Weiner always draws me in 100%, and I love living in her universe for a few days.
I LOVED a that the red Doc Martin boots made it into the book. They were absolutely one of my favorite possessions in the 90’s.

PERFECT SUMMER READ

This books reads very quickly. The characters were so well written, your heart actually breaks for them. You won't be disappointed!

Great Summer Read

Enjoyed this read. Narration was great. Interesting plot twist that I didn’t expect. Refreshing and full circle story with a great ending.

Very very good

First of all, I’m a Jennifer Weiner fan. That being said, I think this was definitely the best book she’s written in years. I like it much more than Big Summer. It was well written and the narrator was excellent. A very good use of a credit!

Awesome read

As usual, another engaging, well rounded, full of emotion piece of art by Jennifer Weiner. Her characters are always so relatable and real. A great summer read or listen. Highly recommended!