Summer Harbor : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Refreshing read
Review: I enjoyed this refreshing book and looked forward to reading it every chance I could get. Kiley's estrangement from Hawke's Cove was a poignant one.The setting in a small New England coastal village was wonderful. The relationship between Kiley and her son
Will was at the same time typical for a teenager and idealistic.
The story was not rushed. I have read too many books where the main characters make love too soon, then they regret it. While I am wondering why they did in the first place.

Also I am looking forward to reading more books by Susan Wilson.

Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Summer Read
Review: Summer Harbor was an enjoyable read, until the end. The characters were likable and I enjoyed being with them. Hawkes Cove was an interesting place to spend the summer, and the conflict was strong enough to keep me wondering how everything would turn out.

The characters struggled for thirty-three chapters to solve their problem of estrangement, and then, in the last three chapters, the prior thirty-three were tossed out and the characters became unrecognizable.

When I got to chapter thirty-four, the interesting heroine, Kiley Harris, turned into a hateful, shouting schizophrenic. Hot headed Grainger developed the patients of Job, and impulsive 18 year old Will started thinking and talking with the wisdom that forty years of living imparts. And instead of resolving the story conflict at the climax, the author increased it to "shrill." But then, in the last five pages, all story conflict was magically resolved.

On page 149 the author referred to a "deus ex machina," and in the last five pages put it to good use. It seemed as if God swooped down bringing fire to cleanse them all, and everyone lived happily ever after.

This is a good read, but has a contrived and unsatifying ending.