Summer Island

Kristin Hannah

2001 • 450 pages

Ratings13

Average rating3.9

The author of the cherished bestseller On Mystic Lake returns with a poignant, funny, luminous novel about a mother and daughter–the complex ties that bind them, the past that separates them, and the healing that comes with forgiveness.

Years ago, Nora Bridge walked out on her marriage and left her daughters behind. She has since become a famous radio talk-show host and newspaper columnist beloved for her moral advice. Her youngest daughter, Ruby, is a struggling comedienne who uses her famous mother as fuel for her bitter, cynical humor. When the tabloids unearth a scandalous secret from Nora’s past, their estrangement suddenly becomes dramatic: Nora is injured in an accident and a glossy magazine offers Ruby a fortune to write a tell-all about her mother. Under false pretenses, Ruby returns home to take care of the woman she hasn’t spoken to for almost a decade.

Nora insists they retreat to Summer Island in the San Juans, to the lovely old house on the water where Ruby grew up, a place filled with childhood memories of love and joy and belonging. There Ruby is also reunited with her first love and his brother. Once, the three of them had been best friends, inseparable. Until the summer that Nora had left and everyone’s hearts had been broken. . . .

What began as an expose evolves, as Ruby writes, into an exploration of her family’s past. Nora is not the woman Ruby has hated all these years. Witty, wise, and vulnerable, she is desperate to reconcile with her daughter. As the magazine deadline draws near and Ruby finishes what has begun to seem to her an act of brutal betrayal, she is forced to grow up and at last to look at her mother–and herself–through the eyes of a woman. And she must, finally, allow herself to love.

Summer Island is a beautiful novel, funny, tender, sad, and ultimately triumphant.

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Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

Ummi

Reading this is like being on an emotional roller-coaster.

November 4, 2011

Ashley

I love all of Kristin Hannah's books I have read so far. Great author. I suggest reading any of her books.

March 6, 2022

Darlene

This book is a story about mother/daughter relationships and family secrets. Being a big Kristin Hannah fan, I was hoping to love this story. However, it is a bit too sappy and cliched for me. It has a rebellious daughter, an absent mother, a dying cancer patient who happens to also be gay, and a bored bachelor. All of these feel too stereotypical for my liking. It's all a bit too much for one book.

This book is mostly about Nora Bridge and her daughter Ruby. Their relationship is strained because Nora left her family when Ruby was in high school. Ruby holds a grudge and wants nothing to do with Nora now that she is an adult. However, Ruby is offered money to write a tell-all article about her mother when Nora's career is derailed by the revelation of a major secret from her past. Through the course of the time they spend together at their family's island home, they learn a lot about each other and the real reasons for Nora's actions in the past.

The storyline focuses on healing old wounds and reestablishing family bonds. There are many heartwarming moments between mother and daughter. There are also some moments of humor that lighten the drama a bit. However, there are some secondary storylines that feel unnecessary to the overall plot and seem added just to create another layer of emotional drama.

Overall, this book is just okay for me. I felt like it had a bit too much going on and maybe tried too hard to tug at my heartstrings.

December 8, 2021