The Summerhouse
Jude Deveraux
Reviewed by Donna Pierce
When three 20-year-old girls meet at the Department of Motor Vehicles while getting their driver’s licenses renewed, little do they know that an afternoon of friendship will lead to an important reunion 20 years later.
As a young girl, Ellie Abbott had planned to become an artist in New York. Beautiful Madison Appleby, dumped by her rich fiancé, had packed up and moved to New York in hopes of becoming a successful model. Leslie Headrick had jilted her longtime boyfriend and moved to New York hoping to become a dancer.
Twenty years later, Ellie is in a deep depression and through the urging of her therapist invites the other two women to a summerhouse in Maine. When they reunite at age 40, they find out that their lives have taken different paths than previously planned and are surprised at each other’s life choices.
Ellie became a best-selling romance novelist and has been taken to the cleaners by her ex-husband. Madison left her modeling career and returned home to her philandering fiancé, became his wife and nursed him back to health. Leslie returned home to marry her boyfriend and is ignoring rumors of an alleged affair between her husband and his assistant.
One afternoon, they venture into town and meet Madame Zoya. They each choose a three-week period in their past to relive, and then must decide if they want to change their fates.
Female readers can empathize with the characters in Summerhouse and will begin to think about their own lives and the choices made. The novel is thought-provoking and entertaining, with bright, vivid characters.
Grade: A-
