(31)That Summer by Jennifer Weiner

 

That Summer is the story of two women named Diana. Diana Shoemaker goes by the name "Daisy" and is a suburban homemaker. Her entire world revolves around her husband, Hal, and their teen daughter, Bea. She left college in order to marry Hal and has felt "less than" ever since. Daisy receives emails meant for another Diana, Diana Starling. The emails make it seem that she has such a fulfilling life that Daisy becomes curious about this woman with a name so similar to hers. Feeling the emptiness of her own unfulfillment, she reaches out and is thrilled when a genuine friendship develops between them. As their friendship blossoms, Daisy learns a lot about herself. But she doesn't realize that her husband is not the man she thought and that her new friend has dark secrets of her own. Will Daisy ever get to live the life she always thought she was meant to live?

That Summer is a book that is going to challenge you to examine your own life. The book jumps around if you aren't paying attention you will lose track of "where" you are in the timeline. And who you are "shadowing" in that chapter. Both Daisy and Diana are easy women to like and I could identify with both of them for different reasons. I could relate to Daisy's regrets and Diana's desire to reconcile the past. Almost from the first page, something didn't sit right with me when it came to Hal. I didn't like the way he took Daisy for granted. I did like the way things ended. It felt right. CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.

Bottom Line - While I wouldn't necessarily consider That Summer a fluffy "beach read," but it would be a book that you could devour while sitting at the beach.

Details:

• That Summer by Jennifer Weiner
• On Instagram
• Pages: 432
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication Date: 5/11/2021
• Buy it Here! 
• Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for a review.