Synopses & Reviews
No writer captures the seasons of our lives better than Judy Blume. Now, from the
New York Times bestselling author of
Wifey and
Smart Women, comes an extraordinary novel of reminiscence and awakening an unforgettable story of two women, two families, and the friendships that shape a lifetime.
When Victoria Leonard answers the phone in her Manhattan office, Caitlin's voice catches her by surprise. Vix hasn't talked to her oldest friend in months. Caitlin's news takes her breath away and Vix is transported back in time, back to the moment she and Caitlin Somers first met, back to the casual betrayals and whispered confessions of their long, complicated friendship, back to the magical island where two friends became summer sisters.
Caitlin dazzled Vix from the start, sweeping her into the heart of the unruly Somers family, into a world of privilege, adventure, and sexual daring. Vix's bond with her summer family forever reshapes her ties to her own, opening doors to opportunities she had never imagined until the summer she falls passionately in love. Then, in one shattering moment on a moonswept Vineyard beach, everything changes, exposing a dark undercurrent in her extraordinary friendship with Caitlin that will haunt them through the years.
As their story carries us from Santa Fe to Martha's Vineyard, from New York to Venice, we come to know the men and women who shape their lives. And as we follow the two women on the paths they each choose, we wait for the inevitable reckoning to be made in the fine spaces between friendship and betrayal, between love and freedom.
Summer Sisters is a riveting exploration of the choices that define our lives, of friendship and love, of the families we are born into and those we struggle to create. For every woman who has ever had a friend too dangerous to forgive and too essential to forget, Summer Sisters will glue you to every page, reading and remembering.
Review
"Compulsively readable...her powers are prodigious." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"You'll love it like a sister." Cosmopolitan
Review
"As warm as a summer breeze blowing through your hair, as nostalgic as James Taylor singing 'How Sweet It Is.' You remember. So does Judy Blume. How sweet it was." Chicago Tribune
Review
"An exceptionally moving story that can leave the reader laughing and crying...sometimes at the same time....Blume creates a rich tapestry of characters." The Denver Post
Review
"The dark and light sides of friendship breathlessly explored in a novel best saved for summer beachside reading." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Blume catches perfectly the well-armored love between longtime female friends." Seattle Times
Review
"Ironically...the audience who will most appreciate the trials and tribulations of friends Victoria and Caitlin as they try to grow up are the very people Blume seems trying so hard to get away from teenage girls." Booklist
Review
"Unfortunately...Blume never delves beneath the banalities of adolescent angst and misses any subtleties of character that might make reliving the time seem poignant rather than painful." Entertainment Weekly
Review
"Blume's new novel for adults will appeal primarily to those who loved young adult novels when they were YAs themselves." Library Journal
Review
"The author's perceptive treatment of special childhood moments, the trials and joys of adolescence, and the magical possibilities of summer make this an entertaining read." School Library Journal
Synopsis
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader's Circle for author chats and more.
In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard's world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha's Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become "summer sisters."
Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go--because she wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend--her summer sister--still has the power to break her heart.
Praise for Summer Sisters
"Compulsively readable . . . Blume's] powers are prodigious."--The New York Times Book Review
"As warm as a summer breeze blowing through your hair, as nostalgic as James Taylor singing 'How Sweet It Is.' You remember. So does Judy Blume. How sweet it was."--Chicago Tribune
"An exceptionally moving story that can leave the reader laughing and crying . . . sometimes at the same time . . . Blume creates a rich tapestry of characters."--The Denver Post
"Blume's characters still tend to hover after the book is set aside. . . . She catches perfectly the well-armored love between longtime female friends."--The Seattle Times
Synopsis
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "As warm as a summer breeze blowing through your hair, as nostalgic as James Taylor singing 'How Sweet It Is.' You remember. So does Judy Blume. How sweet it was."--Chicago Tribune In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard's world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha's Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become "summer sisters."
Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go--because she wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend--her summer sister--still has the power to break her heart.
Synopsis
#1
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "
Summer Sisters is a book to return to again and again."
--Colleen Hoover "As warm as a summer breeze blowing through your hair, as nostalgic as James Taylor singing 'How Sweet It Is.' You remember. So does Judy Blume. How sweet it was."--Chicago Tribune
In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard's world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha's Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become "summer sisters."
Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go--because she wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend--her summer sister--still has the power to break her heart.
Synopsis
#1
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY - "
Summer Sisters is a book to return to again and again."
--Colleen Hoover "As warm as a summer breeze blowing through your hair, as nostalgic as James Taylor singing 'How Sweet It Is.' You remember. So does Judy Blume. How sweet it was."--Chicago Tribune
In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard's world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha's Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become "summer sisters."
Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go--because she wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend--her summer sister--still has the power to break her heart.
Synopsis
Two girls who spend summers together as children grow up and find their lives becoming complicated and their old friendship strained.
Synopsis
A publishing event a mesmerizing new novel from the internationally bestselling author who captured the imagination of a generation. Summer Sisters is for everyone who has ever had a friend too dangerous to forgive, and too essential to forget.
About the Author
“Compulsively readable . . . [Blume’s] powers are prodigious.”—
The New York Times Book Review“As warm as a summer breeze blowing through your hair, as nostalgic as James Taylor singing ‘How Sweet It Is.’ You remember. So does Judy Blume. How sweet it was.”—Chicago Tribune
An exceptionally moving story that can leave the reader laughing and crying . . . sometimes at the same time. . . . Blume creates a rich tapestry of characters.”—The Denver Post
“Blume’s characters still tend to hover after the book is set aside. . . . She catches perfectly the well-armored love between longtime female friends.”—The Seattle Times
Reading Group Guide
No writer captures the seasons of our lives better than Judy Blume. Now, from the
New York Times bestselling author of
Wifey and
Smart Women, comes an extraordinary novel of reminiscence and awakening--an unforgettable story of two women, two families, and the friendships that shape a lifetime.
When Victoria Leonard answers the phone in her Manhattan office, Caitlin's voice catches her by surprise. Vix hasn't talked to her oldest friend in months. Caitlin's news takes her breath away--and Vix is transported back in time, back to the moment she and Caitlin Somers first met, back to the casual betrayals and whispered confessions of their long, complicated friendship, back to the magical island where two friends became summer sisters.
Caitlin dazzled Vix from the start, sweeping her into the heart of the unruly Somers family, into a world of privilege, adventure, and sexual daring. Vix's bond with her summer family forever reshapes her ties to her own, opening doors to opportunities she had never imagined--until the summer she falls passionately in love. Then, in one shattering moment on a moonswept Vineyard beach, everything changes, exposing a dark undercurrent in her extraordinary friendship with Caitlin that will haunt them through the years.
As their story carries us from Santa Fe to Martha's Vineyard, from New York to Venice, we come to know the men and women who shape their lives. And as we follow the two women on the paths they each choose, we wait for the inevitable reckoning to be made in the fine spaces between friendship and betrayal, between love and freedom.
Summer Sisters is a riveting exploration of the choices that define our lives, of friendship and love, of the families we are born into and those we struggle to create. For every woman who has ever had a friend too dangerous to forgive and too essential to forget,
Summer Sisters will glue you to every page, reading and remembering.
Judy Blume's twenty-one books have sold over sixty-five million copies worldwide and have been translated into twenty languages. She spends summers on Martha's Vineyard with her family.
From the Hardcover edition. 1. Do you see more of your personality in the character of Victoria ("Vix&") or Caitlin? Why? Do you see parallels in your relationships with your friends? Have you ever known a "Caitlin?" You might start by remembering best friends and what they've meant to you.
2. What is it about Vix that leads Caitlin to befriend her in the first place? That allows the friendship to flourish? What does Vix get from her friendship with Caitlin? What does Caitlin get from Vix? And what do each of them give?
3.
What do you see as the source of the lasting bond between Vix and Cailtin? Why and how do they remain so close even as they grow apart and lead different lives? How do their expectations of each other change? Do you see similarities in your own long-term friendships? In what ways have they changed over time?
4. After Caitlin talks to Vix about Phoebe, Vix thinks, "You weren't always born to the right parents. And parents didn't necessarily get the kids they were meant to raise" (p. 98). Do you think Vix was thinking of her own parents, or Caitlin's? What does this say about how she feels about both sets of parents? Do you agree?
5. How did Vix's relationship with Abby and Lamb affect her relationship with her own family? How much different would her life have been if she hadn't developed such a strong bond with Caitlin's family? Would Vix have broken away from her background on her own, without her friendship with Caitlin?
6. How much do you think their respective backgrounds shaped Vix and Caitlin? Do you think their essential characters would have been the same if their situations had been reversed? How do you think each would have operated in the world under reversed circumstances?
7. Could there ever have been a future for Vix and Bru? Was their breakup inevitable? Could she have married him and still fulfilled herself? Do you see any parallels between their relationship and your own first love?
8. Why does Caitlin pursue and marry Bru? What attracts her to the idea of settling down and having a child? Is this something you think she deliberately set out to do or did it just happen?
9. How can Vix forgive Caitlin for marrying Bru? When Caitlin abandons her daughter? When she disappears from their lives? Why doesn't Vix ask more questions about Caitlin's life away from her? Do you think she should have ended the friendship because of any of these events?
10. Judy Blume uses an unusual technique in her novel, allowing readers to get into the minds of many characters, yet she never allows us inside Caitlin. Why?
11. What drew you to each character? With which characters did you most sympathize? Which did you find less sympathetic? Why?
12. Was the ending inevitable or tragic? Are you able to agree on what really happened? How do you feel about the ambiguity of the ending?
12. Was the ending inevitable or tragic? Are you able to agree on what really happened? How do you feel about the ambiguity of the ending?
1. Do you see more of your personality in the character of Victoria ("Vix&") or Caitlin? Why? Do you see parallels in your relationships with your friends? Have you ever known a "Caitlin?" You might start by remembering best friends and what they've meant to you.
2. What is it about Vix that leads Caitlin to befriend her in the first place? That allows the friendship to flourish? What does Vix get from her friendship with Caitlin? What does Caitlin get from Vix? And what do each of them give?
3.
What do you see as the source of the lasting bond between Vix and Cailtin? Why and how do they remain so close even as they grow apart and lead different lives? How do their expectations of each other change? Do you see similarities in your own long-term friendships? In what ways have they changed over time?
4. After Caitlin talks to Vix about Phoebe, Vix thinks, "You weren't always born to the right parents. And parents didn't necessarily get the kids they were meant to raise" (p. 98). Do you think Vix was thinking of her own parents, or Caitlin's? What does this say about how she feels about both sets of parents? Do you agree?
5. How did Vix's relationship with Abby and Lamb affect her relationship with her own family? How much different would her life have been if she hadn't developed such a strong bond with Caitlin's family? Would Vix have broken away from her background on her own, without her friendship with Caitlin?
6. How much do you think their respective backgrounds shaped Vix and Caitlin? Do you think their essential characters would have been the same if their situations had been reversed? How do you think each would have operated in the world under reversed circumstances?
7. Could there ever have been a future for Vix and Bru? Was their breakup inevitable? Could she have married him and still fulfilled herself? Do you see any parallels between their relationship and your own first love?
8. Why does Caitlin pursue and marry Bru? What attracts her to the idea of settling down and having a child? Is this something you think she deliberately set out to do or did it just happen?
9. How can Vix forgive Caitlin for marrying Bru? When Caitlin abandons her daughter? When she disappears from their lives? Why doesn't Vix ask more questions about Caitlin's life away from her? Do you think she should have ended the friendship because of any of these events?
10. Judy Blume uses an unusual technique in her novel, allowing readers to get into the minds of many characters, yet she never allows us inside Caitlin. Why?
11. What drew you to each character? With which characters did you most sympathize? Which did you find less sympathetic? Why?
12. Was the ending inevitable or tragic? Are you able to agree on what really happened? How do you feel about the ambiguity of the ending?
12. Was the ending inevitable or tragic? Are you able to agree on what really happened? How do you feel about the ambiguity of the ending?
From the Paperback edition.
In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard’s world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha’s Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become “summer sisters.”
Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go—because Vix wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend—her summer sister—still has the power to break her heart.
Look for special features inside.
Join the Circle for author chats and more.
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