Readers who enjoyed THE SUMMER OF ‘69 will enjoy THE SUMMER OF ‘79. Making THE SUMMER OF ‘79 specific to that year didn’t feel as organic as they felt manufactured to fit a scenario. I recently reread two books from a decade ago that could have happened yesterday or fifty years ago. What makes most of Hilderbrand’s books special is their timelessness. Hilderbrand throws in cultural references, tv shows and songs from the 1970s, including a few slang words from back in the day, which felt more like Hilderbrand’s fond memories than integral parts of the story. While THE SUMMER OF ‘79 was enjoyable, I have the same criticisms I had with THE SUMMER OF ‘69. Their mother Kate wonders who she is now that her formidable mother has died. Recently divorced Blair and her twins looks for love in old familiar faces while Tiger and his wife hope to conceive a baby. Youngest Jessie in law school rides with older sister Kirby, a writer for Cosmopolitan magazine. In THE SUMMER OF ‘79, a short story, the family from Elin Hilderbrand’s THE SUMMER OF ‘69, Gathers on Nantucket for matriarch Exalta’s funeral. 4 stars.īlog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ PaperBackSwap ~ Smashbomb I kind of wish we could have novellas like this for other favorite books. Overall, if you enjoyed Summer of '69, this is a great novella to catch you up on some beloved characters. We also find Kate adjusting to moving into the role of family matriarch with the passing of her mother. Hilderbrand switches POV from Kate to all four of the kids, allowing us to see what they've been doing and how they feel. 'She feels like a stranger in her own family, but there’s nothing new about that.'ĭespite the somber occasion for which the family has gathered, it's quite fun to check in on them ten years later. I read it easily in one setting and quite enjoyed catching up with Kate and the kids, particularly the youngest, Jessie, who was my favorite in '69 and remains so ten years later. This is a slim e-book (coming out later in book form as part of a tribute anthology to the late Dorothea Benton Frank). And, because she's so good at bringing them to life, the concept works perfectly. It only makes sense that she would allow us to check in on her characters at a later date.

Elin Hilderbrand is such an excellent author and so good at world-building for her characters. But many books are so engaging-the characters so vivid-that you often wonder what has happened to them. There are a few books in the world that end perfectly, and you don't need another word. Crimmins, their former caretaker, slept beside her.' She died in her sleep two days earlier in the house on Fair Street, while Mr. Kate and her children, Blair, Kirby, Tiger, and Jessie, gather again on Nantucket after the death of Kate's mother, Exalta.

This is an excellent novella following up with the Foley/Levin gang ten years after the events of Summer of '69.

Author of summer of 69