Review: That Summer by Jennifer Weiner

THAT SUMMER

Jennifer Weiner
Publication date: May 11, 2021
Genres: Adult Fiction, Women's Fiction, Contemporary
Format: eARC
Source: Atria Books
4 Stars

Daisy Shoemaker can’t sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content. But her teenage daughter can be a handful; her husband can be distant, her work can feel trivial, and she has lots of acquaintances, but no real friends. Still, Daisy knows she’s got it good. So why is she up all night?

While Daisy tries to identify the root of her dissatisfaction, she’s also receiving misdirected emails meant for a woman named Diana Starling, whose email address is just one punctuation mark away from her own. While Daisy’s driving carpools, Diana is chairing meetings. While Daisy’s making dinner, Diana’s making plans to reorganize corporations. Diana’s glamorous, sophisticated, single-lady life is miles away from Daisy’s simpler existence. When an apology leads to an invitation, the two women meet and become friends. But, as they get closer, we learn that their connection was not completely accidental. Who IS this other woman, and what does she want with Daisy?

From the manicured Main Line of Philadelphia to the wild landscape of the Outer Cape, written with Jennifer Weiner’s signature wit and sharp observations, THAT SUMMER is a story about surviving our pasts, confronting our futures, and the sustaining bonds of friendship. 

Two women named Diana (although one goes by Daisy) met in the most unusual way: Daisy had been receiving emails meant for Diana and this eventually leads to an in-real-life meeting. A friendship formed and in Diana, Daisy admired all the things she might have been but was not – single, successful, career-focused, confident. Instead, Daisy quit college to marry a man thirteen years her senior, a man who offered stability and comfort (of the financial type, anyway). Now Daisy lived with a mild but persistent dissatisfaction with her life, questioned the state of her marriage, and dealt with her teenage daughter’s expulsion from boarding school. But Daisy and Diana’s meeting was no coincidence and the more time the two women spent together, and the closer Diana was drawn into Daisy’s life, it’s obvious there was more to her story.

The cover of the book belies the story inside because this is not a light and fluffy beach read, or a simple story of female friendship. Heavily influenced by the #MeToo movement, That Summer examines the aftermath of sexual assault and chronicles one woman’s journey for… truth? Revenge? Justice? There were times when I didn’t fully understand Diana’s end-game, even though her motivation was clear. And there were times when I wanted to shake Daisy and force her to use her voice and stand up for herself.  While the ending wasn’t fully satisfying for me (I wanted “real justice”, whatever that is), maybe the way Weiner portrayed it is a more likely scenario.

I was easily pulled into Daisy and Diana’s lives, and even that of Beatrice, Daisy’s teenage daughter who unapologetically marched to the beat of her own drum. Once again, I loved Weiner’s storytelling and her focus on the issues women face. I appreciated the varied responses to the #MeToo movement shown throughout the story – by different genders, generations, and social classes. While That Summer is not the beach read the cover implies, it is thought-provoking, emotional, and a truly worthwhile read.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary advance copy of this book for review. This does not impact my opinion of the book or the content of this review. I received no compensation and my review is voluntary.

THAT SUMMER

RELEASES ON MAY 11, 2021

YOU CAN FIND THAT SUMMER HERE:

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