Julie's Review: Summer Longing

Author: Jamie Brenner
Series: None
Publication Date: May 5, 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pages: 384
Obtained: friend
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Novel centered around female relationship around
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Summary: 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 thirty 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. ~amazon.com 

Review: I wanted something that I knew would be a quick read but have some substance to it and I love Jamie Brenner's other books, so I picked up Summer Longing. Ms. Brenner has found her muse in the quaint, eccentric, vibrant town of Provincetown. She does a wonderful job of using language to evoke the charm and feel of the beachside town. So much so that I could feel the salty air on my cheeks and smell the salt air. 

What Summer Longing is essentially about is the complicated mother-daughter relationships and other aspects of female relationships. While there are romantic overtures throughout the novel it isn't about romantic love but about sustainable love. What does it take to make a marriage work? Do you just give up when the going gets tough? How do you balance motherhood and work? Can women really have it all or is that just something we tell ourselves?

Ruth recently sold her successful cosmetic company and finds herself longing to go out to Provincetown and retire there for a much needed reprieve. What she doesn't excpect is that a baby will show up on her rentals front porch and throw her summer out of whack. She also wants to spend time with her daughter whom she doesn't have the best relationship with for a long time. Her daughter, Oliva, is at a crossroads in her career so decide to take her mom up on the offer to visit her. Little do they both know that their lives are going to change over this one summer. 

There are a bunch of stories that are all woven together within Summer Longing: Fern and Elise's journey to becoming mothers, Lidia and Jaci's changing relationship but all the other towns people that round out the wonderful cast of characters. 

If you need to be transported during the next months of winter, I can say that Summer Longing will get you to a beach. 

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