When it comes to spring and summer, what can be better than reading outdoors?
Perhaps in a pretty garden, or by the sea on holiday. Summer, or ‘holiday reading’, can span the spectrum from an easy read for those who want their summer books to be relaxing reads, to those who usually have little time to read, for whom a week in the sun means they can actually read a book from cover to cover. I like a variety myself, and so I’ve chosen a mixed bag.
I’m starting with an easy read from an author well known for her Christmas novellas and youth fiction. Melody Carlson has written a staggering 200 books, selling over seven million copies. Her latest is Courting Mr Emerson (Revell); a relaxing read perfect for the poolside! The Mr Emerson of the title is George Emerson, mid-fifties and about to retire from his teaching job. He spends much time trying to avoid his over-interested neighbour Lorna, but his life suddenly becomes very complicated when he meets the free-spirited artist Willow, the grandmother of one of his students, Collin. George and Willow’s growing friendship is very entertainingly written, as are the details of what happens when Willow’s estranged daughter Josie arrives back on the scene, much to the disgust of Collin, the son she abandoned as a toddler. A delightful story with plenty of character interaction. The story is an energetic and engaging reading; complicated enough to keep you concentrating, but not too hard! This is a delightful story.
My second choice is The Runaway by Claire Wong (Lion Fiction). Rhiannon lives in a rural Wales with her aunt, who is the backbone of the village but the bane of Rhiannon’s life. After yet another row Rhiannon runs away. This isn’t a well-planned departure. As she says in the story: “I didn’t technically plan or pack for this outcome. As I left, I grabbed the bag on the landing because I figured that if you storm out without taking anything with you, you’re just an angry person going for a walk; but if you’re carrying some kind of luggage, then you’re someone who is leaving for good.” However, Rhiannon is a stubborn and capable young woman who manages to hide away in a derelict house in the nearby Dyrys Wood. The story is told from her perspective and those from the village, where her disappearance is causing cracks to appear in the day to day lives of the locals. This is a beautifully created and written story. It’s one of those books where the pleasure is in the actual writing as much as in the story. I’ll be looking out for Claire’s future novels with eager anticipation.
My third pick is The Restless Wave (9781910674543) by Sarah Meyrick (Marylebone House). This is told from the perspectives of teacher Nell, her complicated mother Hope and her D-Day Army Chaplain grandfather Edward. Nell’s part in the story begins when she makes a BIG mistake by posting a social media comment which rapidly wrecks her life.
We first meet Hope in 1945, an evacuee child about to be torn from the Dorset countryside she loves, to move to Birmingham with a father she barely knows and who is scarred both physically and mentally by the war. Meanwhile, Edward’s story is woven in and out of both Nell and Hope’s.
This is a complex, multi-layered book. The story (stories?) is engrossing and I was eager to find out what happened next for each of the characters, and to find out the resolution of the mystery of the letter and photograph Nell finds in an old desk. There is some swearing, and a rather nasty incident at Edward’s school. The latter is a pity as I couldn’t see that it added anything to the rest of the story. However, it’s a couple of paragraphs in what is otherwise an excellent book. Marylebone House seems to be publishing some ‘edgy’ books. I’ve also just read The Light Keeper, the story of a girl who doesn’t want to be found and the grieving man who lives in an old lighthouse. It’s atmospheric, compelling reading and Rev Kate Bottley said it was ‘A beautifully haunting read. Evocative, spiritual and deeply immersive’. Spot on!
These are just three (four!) options for summer. But there’s also all those old favourites, so what’s your favourite summer read?
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