The Summerhouse

By: Jude Deveraux

Narrated by: Melissa Hughes

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jude Deveraux's blockbuster best seller at a new low price!

Three best friends, all with the same birthday, are about to turn 40. Celebrating at a summerhouse in Maine, Leslie Headrick, Madison Appleby, and Ellie Abbott are taking stock of their lives and loves, their wishes and choices. But none of them expect the gift that awaits them at the summerhouse: the chance for each of them to turn their "what-might-have-beens" into reality....

©2012 Simon & Schuster; 2012 Jude Deveraux

All time favorite Jude Deveraux story...

It is a story of redemption, of healing and of love. Three women meet by chance on their shared 21st birthday and reconnect on their 40th. They discover the things that matter most to themselves and each other. This is the first Jude Deveraux book I ever read and it is still my favorite to date. I appreciate the complexity of choices in this story, that there is consequences to each decision made and that they aren't always good or easy, but still worth it. I hope you enjoy each woman's story as much as I did...it makes me long for my very own summerhouse.

Great book for a book club

I love this book each time I read it. I always ask myself. "If I could go back and change my life, when would I go?" The voice of this reader is soothing and I could listen to her for hours.

Engaging. I didn’t want to stop reading.

Very feel good ending.

STORY BRIEF:
Three women travel to a summerhouse in Maine for a reunion to celebrate their 40th birthday. They share the same birthday. They haven’t seen each other for nineteen years and tell each other about their lives. Terrible and depressing things happened to Madison. A terrible injustice happened to Ellie. Leslie is unhappy and disappointed with people and things. Then a mystical woman offers them a chance to go back in time and spend three weeks there, with their current memories in tact.

The first 2/3 of the book is the story of each woman’s life up until her 40th birthday. The last third is what each of them did during those three weeks and how their lives changed afterwards.

An important part of the story is men who cause heartbreak and ruin. Men also cause happiness. But this is not a “romance novel.” To be romance, more would be needed on the relationships with men. I see this as womens fiction with romantic influences.

OPINION:
Madison’s life was too depressing for me, too much heartbreak. I started thinking I don’t like this book. But the ending reversed it and more than made up for it. It was a wonderful ending. Neat things happened to all three women as a result of their do-overs. This was a creative way to explore the road not taken.

My main complaint was wanting more details and events during each woman’s three week do-over and resulting life.

A second complaint was that during the last third the author jumped around among the three stories too much. She told part of what happened to Ellie, then jumped to part of what happened to Madison and Leslie. Later she returned to finish the Ellie story. It was an “artificial device” to create suspense. The stories were naturally good and didn’t need this.

The narrator Melissa Hughes was good.

Genre: womens fiction with fantasy time-travel and romance.

self reflective and romantic

it was a little slow in the beginning but the character build up is worth it. Each characters story makes you reflect and pulls you into caring for her...and hoping for her.

Good

I gave this book 3 stars because it was a little hard to follow with all the different stores going on. It does come together in the end if you can get though the beginning.

Loved this book!!!

This was a great book! I did not expect the twist in the middle. It was a delightful story! Great narration too!

Depression is the loss of hope

How wonderful it would be to go back and change our choices based on what we have learned the first time around.

What a sweet novel

This was recommended to me by a dear friend. When I start to listen I was very skeptical. I kept listening and oh what a nice book! Loved it!

Really Enjoyed It!

What did you love best about The Summerhouse?

I cheated, since I've actually read The Summerhouse before and wanted to experience the audible version. What I love the best is the concept of being able to go back and change something that might affect your future for the better.

What other book might you compare The Summerhouse to and why?

There are a many books with this concept and Deveraux actually did a Summerhouse Returns, really good as well, though the trip back went way back in history! I actually read a short e-book called "Anything" and the main character wanted to know his fiance more deeply and was able to go back and change something bad that happened to her with the caveat that when you change one thing, it can ripple to the present and perhaps change something, yes, for the better, but possibly for the worst. I just love that idea!

Which character – as performed by Melissa Hughes – was your favorite?

Leslie, by far is my fave, trying not to give anything away here, as she herself was changed.Something for us to think about sometimes. Leslie had children, so to me you have to think, though her present life left a bit to be desired, you would have to think about the ripple effects. This was my first book with this Narrator as well and I really enjoyed her and will look for other books by her.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I guess I'd say something like 'What would you do to make your life better or perhaps realize its the best life for you after all?'

Any additional comments?

I read a lot and have read many of the reviews on audible so I feel my reviews are going to be somewhat plain but I know what I look for in the books I read so that is what I'll most likely be sharing.

Great Audiobook

It has been years since I read a Jude Deveraux book, so I downloaded and listened to this Audiobook. The Narrator did a great job differentiating the voices of the book so you knew who was who she was narrating about. It is a wonderful story of self-reflection and self-improvement. It kept my interest throughout.

Absolutely superb!!

Up til now favourite JD novel was Remembrance (if you haven’t read it already read it not once but many times) but this novel is competing for the title! I listened to it in two sittings and can’t recommend it enough xx