Reviewed by Emma Crowley
For Katie, it is the perfect hideout after a childhood trauma left her feeling exposed. For Robyn, the fresh sea air is helping to heal her scars, but maybe not her marriage. For Grace, a new start could help her move on from a heartbreaking loss. When they meet on Sea Glass Beach one day, they form an instant bond and soon they're sharing prosecco, laughter - and even their biggest secrets...
Together, the women feel stronger than ever before. So can their friendship help them face old fears and find happy endings - as well as new beginnings?
Many thanks to Orion publishing via NetGalley for my copy of The Summer That Changed Us to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Cathy Bramley always writes such lovely, heart-warming and embracing reads that give you that warm feeling inside and this new book, The Summer That Changed Us, is no exception. With such a gorgeous cover that really sums up the themes of the book I couldn’t wait to dive in and read all about three women, their three secrets and the one unforgettable summer that changed everything for them. Right from the beginning, you feel at home and at ease within the setting of Merle Bay, a seaside town on the north east coast of England. Thanks to the vivid descriptions by the author, I could picture the setting so clearly and you feel as if it could be real and that you would love to live alongside the main characters.
The story follows three women, Katie, Grace and Robyn, who have never previously met but a funny if somewhat unfortunate mishap leads to the women forming a close bond that by the end of the book has transcended beyond friendship and they have developed a strong sisterhood. Each women is hiding their own issues and worries and are afraid to come out in the open and express how they are feeling. But thanks to the unique closeness, rapport and solidarity that emerges between them over the course one summer they soon learn that a problem shared is a problem halved. Instead of threading water alone and wandering aimlessly dwelling on an issue that sharing the load, pushing ahead and changing direction may be the best advice they have ever learned.
Katie had lived with her Auntie Jean for ten years until her death a year ago. She has been left the lingerie shop, Auntie Small’s, and enjoys running it alongside her co-worker Nula. Merle Bay has been a haven for Katie and she has been happier there than anywhere else in the world. Instantly, the readers interest is piqued because when she mentions it’s her haven you wonder what has she been hiding? Is she running from something? Despite the success of the shop which is not just your usual lingerie shop in that they always go above and beyond for their customers and Katie has been a support system for so many women dealing with a wide range of emotional and physical problems there is an air of hesitancy surrounding Katie. It’s like she always looking over her shoulder waiting for something to go wrong. It’s as if she can’t let go of something which would allow her to fully embrace her life in the present. Thankfully, the author doesn’t leave us waiting too long to discover just what Katie has been holding back and when a mysterious and threatening letter arrives for her we discover just what she has kept secret and what has haunted her for so long.
I loved the development of this aspect of the overall plot. To me it seemed as if Katie was very much stuck between a rock and a hard place and she had no choice but to give in to demands that were being made on her. I understood completely what had happened to her when she was younger and why she had wanted to not reveal things but it appeared as if the past was catching up with her and this time she couldn’t run away. Will her friendship with Grace and Robyn provide her with the strength and tools she needs to confront what she has long purposefully kept buried? The past should not cloud her life anymore and she needed to find the courage and determination to face it head on. Especially as she has met Barney Larkin, the editor of the local newspaper, through his daughter Chloe. There is definitely a spark between them but she can’t let it ignite until the past has been resolved.
Grace is a woman who needs time away from her old life. Time to reassess and heal following the death of her beloved husband Myles. She needs to get away to a place where he is not imprinted on her mind and where she can learn who she is to be without him. Through a friend she rents Sea Glass House overlooking a stunning beach and its here where Katie and Robyn come to her rescue. Initially it’s a tentative association that is formed but the three women soon realise they are kindred spirits. Grace needs to catch her breath and reimagine herself and with the help of Katie and Robyn just as she takes baby steps in doing this, her world is once again rocked. I felt so sorry for her that just as she was beginning to find a way out of the darkness that engulfed her, her world is once again rocked to its very foundation. We learn what has happened but then things get even more dramatic and I didn’t know how she was going to handle things. I would have been so mad at what Grace learned and I don’t think forgiveness would have come so easily. When everything you thought to be true was a lie and your carefully ordered world was nothing but a façade. Betrayal features heavily in Grace’s storyline and I wondered would she ever find her way back from it?
Robyn is the last woman who form the special trio and boy was she hurting. She is married to Finn but you can tell they are experiencing a very rough patch that could if she allows it to happen develop into something much more permanent. Her outward scars may be beginning to heal but inside she is a mess. Her emotions are all over the place and I thought quite often she saw things in a different light to others, as in problems where there weren’t any. She feels useless in that she can’t contribute to the household as things aren’t going great with Finn’s fishing business but more pressingly she feels such a failure that she will never be a mother. The reasons for this really impact on you as a reader and give you plenty of food for thought. Things with Robyn aren’t as cut and dry as one would think. She questions things internally instead of voicing things vocally to Finn and you are so glad when she meets Grace and Katie as they give her the opportunity to say what is on her mind and they don’t in any way condemn or judge her for the way she thinks and feels.
I thought this quote from the book was so powerful as it summed up the three women and how they are dealing with things to perfection, but it is also something which can be said for us all. ‘People were a bit like the shingle beach, she thought, it looked perfectly ordinary on the surface, but take the time to dig a little deeper and you discover the sea glass, unique in every way, with histories and stories you couldn’t even begin to guess.’ The beach and sea glass play an important role in this story and were woven wonderfully through each woman’s unique journey. All three women hit rock bottom but the future is in their hands. ’The three of us are going to fight back. We’re not going to cower away, afraid of what others think of us. We’re going to show the world what we are made of’ And boy do they and I was rooting for them every step of the way as this wonderful story further unfolded. The three women make a promise and are filled with a determination not to let their issues suffocate and defeat them but to instead face things head on. You will cheer them on every step of the way as they learn life is too short to be anything but happy and if anything like me you will be sad to leave this special trio once you reach the end of what was an exhilarating, captivating and sparkling story.
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