Book Review: One Last Summer by Victoria Connelly

One Last Summer

by Victoria Connelly

 

Amazon US / UK / AU CA / B&N

 

They have the whole summer ahead of them. Is it enough to rekindle the friendship they once shared?

Harriet Greenleaf dreams of spending the summer in a beautiful ancient priory on the Somerset coast with her two best friends—but her dream is bittersweet. On the one hand, it’s a chance to reconnect three lives that have drifted apart; on the other, she has a devastating secret to share that will change everything between them forever.

First to arrive is Audrey—the workaholic who’s heading for a heart attack unless she slows down and makes time for herself. Then Lisa, the happy-go-lucky flirt who’s always struggled to commit to anyone—or anything. Ever the optimist, can Harriet remind them of the joy in their lives and the importance of celebrating good friendship before it’s gone?

Through the highs and lows of a long, glorious summer, these three women will rediscover what it means to be there for each other—before they face the hardest of goodbyes.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He was the head of the maths department and she’d told him that she’d always hated figures and he’d made some wisecrack about liking hers.

 

Harrie’s diagnosis. D-Day, she called it, and now her life seemed to be divided between everything that had happened before D-Day and everything that had happened after.

 

Kindness. That was the trait she’d come to value most in recent years. You realised that as soon as you became ill. Kindness trumped absolutely everything else.

 

… the likelihood was that she wasn’t going to see her birthday. How strange a thought was that – to know that you have seen your last birthday?

 

A moment of stillness and wordlessness passed between the two women. It was a strange feeling because Harrie didn’t feel any sort of closeness to Mrs Ryder, but this confession – this sharing of intimate pain – now connected them. Harrie had found that her journey with cancer had linked her to so many people in this way – people she probably would never have spoken to.

 

Lisa, aligning my chakras and teaching me how to breathe through one nostril isn’t going to save me… This thing’s got me good and proper.

 

I know he’s the father of my daughter and there’s a part of me that will always love him, but he’s moved on now. He’s married to Lizzie, who has big hair and wears tight tops. So, you see my health isn’t his concern anymore.

 

My Review:

 

Knowing her days were numbered, Harriet, Harrie for short, splashed out a fortune to provide one last hurrah to host a peaceful summer vacation with her two oldest and dearest friends of twenty years, who are unaware of her dire health issues. This wasn’t a highly eventful or active story but a slowly evolving character-based study of coming to grips with mortality, as well as how that was processed and dealt with within complicated relationships and personalities. Each woman possessed a distinct and complex identity with vastly different temperaments, life goals, and levels of accomplishment, yet they cared about each other and fussed like siblings.

The premise was relevant and thought-provoking while the writing was emotive and thoughtfully insightful with recurrent themes of interpersonal tension, poignancy, melancholia, angst, and wry humor. The main characters were well fleshed out, although the character of Audrey was the most difficult for me to warm up to as she was the type of person I generally make an effort to avoid in real-life; she was stubborn, bristling with self-importance, driven, highly opinionated, and abrupt. I actually found the local workers to be the most compelling and interesting and greatly enjoyed their addition and contributions to the story.

New additions to my Brit Word list include plimsolls – which are rubber-soled canvas shoes; slap-up – a large and sumptuous meal; and supply teaching – what most Americans know as substitute teaching.

About the Author

Victoria Connelly studied English literature at Worcester University, got married in a medieval castle in the Yorkshire Dales and now lives in rural Suffolk with her artist husband, a young springer spaniel and a flock of ex-battery hens.

She is the author of two bestselling series, Austen Addicts and The Book Lovers, as well as many other novels and novellas. Her first published novel, Flights of Angels, was made into a film in 2008 by Ziegler Films in Germany. The Runaway Actress was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Romantic Comedy Novel award.

Ms. Connelly loves books, films, walking, historic buildings and animals. If she isn’t at her keyboard writing, she can usually be found in her garden, with either a trowel in her hand or a hen on her lap.

Her website is www.victoriaconnelly.com, and readers can follow her on Twitter @VictoriaDarcy and on Instagram @VictoriaConnellyAuthor.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/312085782631729/

Twitter: @VictoriaDarcy

Instagram: @VictoriaConnellyAuthor

7 Replies to “Book Review: One Last Summer by Victoria Connelly”

  1. Thanks for sharing your great review. I’m glad you enjoyed the read.
    Gemma @ Gemma’s Book Nook

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