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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Like the hurricane at its center, this book takes you on an enthralling journey. Slow at first but strong and mesmerising towards the end you can't help but get washed away in the currents of this story based on a historical disaster.
I love when the universe works in my favor, because this was a fantastic find. A book about relationships, duty, racism, love, small town dynamics, crime, life after war, death, a hurricane, and loss, there are just so many reasons why I loved this book.
It is summer 1935. America has come out of the other side of the first world war and is in the midst of the depression. The brave men who fought in the great War have been abandoned by the government who have failed to keep their promises of pensions and other financial support. A large number of them placed in a camp near the tiny Florida community of Heron Key. This was the time of segregation and the tension in the town with so many soldiers nearby is raised further again.
After the July the 4th celebrations a white residents wife is found badly beaten and left for dead by a road. One of the soldiers is arrested for her attempted murder and the uneasy truce between the residents and the troops is shattered. As the pressures build in the community and residents are looking to take matters into their own hands, the barometer is dropping, fast. It is hurricane season, and whilst Heron Keys has suffered these before, no one has a single idea just what is coming in.
Lafaye has used a bit of artistic licence to bring together several threads and events that happened at broadly similar times. There is the frustration and anger of troops who were promised so much by politicians and received so little, there is the culture of segregation that was frankly poisonous and there is the looming presence of the hurricane that will bring disaster to the Florida Keys. I felt that the first 100 pages of so of the book dragged as the characters were introduced and the scenes were set. After that the book managed to raise the pace and was much better, with the swirl of trial and tribulations of the people of that small community. The description of the residents in the hurricane is pretty scary too as the storm releases its full power. The most terrifying thing is this that tale was all drawn from a set of true stories too. The plight of the troops was real, forced to work and not given the monies they were promised, the horror of segregation and the hurricane that decimated this part of Florida was one of the strongest recorded. Worth reading and a fitting tribute to those that died in this natural disaster.
There are pictures of the area, before and after, here: http://www.keyshistory.org/shelf1935hurr.html
After the July the 4th celebrations a white residents wife is found badly beaten and left for dead by a road. One of the soldiers is arrested for her attempted murder and the uneasy truce between the residents and the troops is shattered. As the pressures build in the community and residents are looking to take matters into their own hands, the barometer is dropping, fast. It is hurricane season, and whilst Heron Keys has suffered these before, no one has a single idea just what is coming in.
Lafaye has used a bit of artistic licence to bring together several threads and events that happened at broadly similar times. There is the frustration and anger of troops who were promised so much by politicians and received so little, there is the culture of segregation that was frankly poisonous and there is the looming presence of the hurricane that will bring disaster to the Florida Keys. I felt that the first 100 pages of so of the book dragged as the characters were introduced and the scenes were set. After that the book managed to raise the pace and was much better, with the swirl of trial and tribulations of the people of that small community. The description of the residents in the hurricane is pretty scary too as the storm releases its full power. The most terrifying thing is this that tale was all drawn from a set of true stories too. The plight of the troops was real, forced to work and not given the monies they were promised, the horror of segregation and the hurricane that decimated this part of Florida was one of the strongest recorded. Worth reading and a fitting tribute to those that died in this natural disaster.
There are pictures of the area, before and after, here: http://www.keyshistory.org/shelf1935hurr.html
I flew through this book - I would give a 3.5. The story line and historical parts were captivating but as many state, it was hard to follow all the characters. Too many points of view.
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Summertime is the powerful, emotive, tension filled début from Vanessa Lafaye. Like the hurricane that is almost a character itself in this book, the story picks you up, holds you in its grip and spits you back out only after it has put you through one hell of a ride. Right from the gator incident in the opening chapter you know you are in for a frightfully good read. This book is different to anything I have read before as the author was brave to take on so many issues for her first book and handle them in such a manner that you came out rooting for almost all of the characters. In Vanessa Lafaye I think we have found the new queen of building a dramatic, action packed, suspenseful novel that grips you from beginning to end. The historical note at the beginning was welcome and gave me a nice bit of background information as to what was going on in the Florida Keys in the 1930's at the time as I had never read anything set in this period before.
The author writes so beautifully and moves the book along at a rapid pace, instantly you are transported to the humid, muggy, sweltering Heron Key where racial injustice lives uneasily alongside the well to do whites. Not forgetting the war veterans isolated on their squalid camp building a bridge the government have given the go ahead to. Their presence in the town makes the residents uneasy. The horrors of the war are still imprinted on these men and many have turned to alcohol as a means of escape. The overwhelming feeling I got from this book was one of oppression - of the blacks, of the war veterans and weird as it made sound the heat and approaching hurricane. The whole way through the book despite it's many storylines is just tension filled as the residents wait for this major storm which may or may not hit their town. Whilst preparing for the hurricane they have to deal with many ongoing issues and towards the end put their differences aside to work for all their greater good. This book is literally like a pressure cooker waiting to explode and the author does such a good job that you are on the edge of your seat both outraged at some of the carry on of people but hopeful the storm will pass by and leave people to begin building relationships and breaking down barriers.
Admittedly I did find at the beginning there were many characters to get to know and the story did jump from place to place. I felt the author was trying to fit too much in to start with. But once I got to know Missy, Selma, Henry, Hilda, Dwayne and everyone else I found I was lost in their lives and was intent on discovering what fate had in store for them. So much happens throughout this book it is impossible to go into detail. A wide range of issues are covered the most important being the racial tensions at the time. The whites and blacks are kept separate on the beach and blacks are served at the back door of the shop. That literally made my mouth drop how did people endure such blatant disregard and hatred towards them? Not being able to eat at the same diner as white people and being made to feel like a second class citizen must have been awful to endure. An incident in the shelter at the onset of the storm made me very angry and the open hostility and menace towards Missy and her family was just mind boggling. Alongside the racial storyline and the problems with the veterans was the mystery of Hilda Kincaid's murder which only serves to heighten the overhanging feeling of impending disaster for everyone. Of course some romance was thrown in and I did wonder if this book needed that but in the end I realised it helped the book come full circle.
The description of the hurricane and it's devastating impact was utterly mind blowing. You could feel it's mighty force and power as it touched land and destroyed the landscape, people's homes and hearts. It put all the characters problems to one side as mother nature reared her ugly head almost in retaliation for all the things the residents of Heron Key had done. I couldn't read quick enough as page after page of horror and devastation was described in such phenomenal detail that normally would put me off a book. In this case the author had done a fantastic job of setting the scene, developing the story lines and the characters that she just let rip as everything came to a head. Yes it is very hard to read what happens and you will need tissues, she does go into graphic detail but if she hadn't it would have been a let down as so much time and effort had been put into making the reader care about the characters and the outcome. I wanted certain people to get their come comeuppance and others to be seriously hurt or die. Yes it's horrible to say that but some of them were just utterly ruthless and shameful. 'An irritable wind had sprung up to worry the washing on the line' is a line that sums up just what happens in this book. It's more than a wind that puts the worries and concerns to the forefront of the minds of the people living in Heron Key. Vanessa Lafaye has done a stellar job in making me more aware of the social history of America and confirming what a skilled author she is. God this woman has a way with words that has left me utterly captivated by this story.
This was gripping, edge of your seat stuff where your heart was literally in your mouth for the second half of the book. Vanessa Lafaye has packed an awful lot into her first novel that makes you think where will she take us next. She is a powerhouse and a bright new talent that will earn legions of fans with this book. No words can do this brilliant book justice, it's an unputdownable must read. Go buy it now.
The author writes so beautifully and moves the book along at a rapid pace, instantly you are transported to the humid, muggy, sweltering Heron Key where racial injustice lives uneasily alongside the well to do whites. Not forgetting the war veterans isolated on their squalid camp building a bridge the government have given the go ahead to. Their presence in the town makes the residents uneasy. The horrors of the war are still imprinted on these men and many have turned to alcohol as a means of escape. The overwhelming feeling I got from this book was one of oppression - of the blacks, of the war veterans and weird as it made sound the heat and approaching hurricane. The whole way through the book despite it's many storylines is just tension filled as the residents wait for this major storm which may or may not hit their town. Whilst preparing for the hurricane they have to deal with many ongoing issues and towards the end put their differences aside to work for all their greater good. This book is literally like a pressure cooker waiting to explode and the author does such a good job that you are on the edge of your seat both outraged at some of the carry on of people but hopeful the storm will pass by and leave people to begin building relationships and breaking down barriers.
Admittedly I did find at the beginning there were many characters to get to know and the story did jump from place to place. I felt the author was trying to fit too much in to start with. But once I got to know Missy, Selma, Henry, Hilda, Dwayne and everyone else I found I was lost in their lives and was intent on discovering what fate had in store for them. So much happens throughout this book it is impossible to go into detail. A wide range of issues are covered the most important being the racial tensions at the time. The whites and blacks are kept separate on the beach and blacks are served at the back door of the shop. That literally made my mouth drop how did people endure such blatant disregard and hatred towards them? Not being able to eat at the same diner as white people and being made to feel like a second class citizen must have been awful to endure. An incident in the shelter at the onset of the storm made me very angry and the open hostility and menace towards Missy and her family was just mind boggling. Alongside the racial storyline and the problems with the veterans was the mystery of Hilda Kincaid's murder which only serves to heighten the overhanging feeling of impending disaster for everyone. Of course some romance was thrown in and I did wonder if this book needed that but in the end I realised it helped the book come full circle.
The description of the hurricane and it's devastating impact was utterly mind blowing. You could feel it's mighty force and power as it touched land and destroyed the landscape, people's homes and hearts. It put all the characters problems to one side as mother nature reared her ugly head almost in retaliation for all the things the residents of Heron Key had done. I couldn't read quick enough as page after page of horror and devastation was described in such phenomenal detail that normally would put me off a book. In this case the author had done a fantastic job of setting the scene, developing the story lines and the characters that she just let rip as everything came to a head. Yes it is very hard to read what happens and you will need tissues, she does go into graphic detail but if she hadn't it would have been a let down as so much time and effort had been put into making the reader care about the characters and the outcome. I wanted certain people to get their come comeuppance and others to be seriously hurt or die. Yes it's horrible to say that but some of them were just utterly ruthless and shameful. 'An irritable wind had sprung up to worry the washing on the line' is a line that sums up just what happens in this book. It's more than a wind that puts the worries and concerns to the forefront of the minds of the people living in Heron Key. Vanessa Lafaye has done a stellar job in making me more aware of the social history of America and confirming what a skilled author she is. God this woman has a way with words that has left me utterly captivated by this story.
This was gripping, edge of your seat stuff where your heart was literally in your mouth for the second half of the book. Vanessa Lafaye has packed an awful lot into her first novel that makes you think where will she take us next. She is a powerhouse and a bright new talent that will earn legions of fans with this book. No words can do this brilliant book justice, it's an unputdownable must read. Go buy it now.
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Actual rating: 3.7
“Jenson is a better storm tracker than any of those fancy scientists down in Key West. He can feel a big one coming, just by the wind and the waves and his barometer. If he’s worried, you should be too. For that matter, all of us should.”
Vanessa Lafaye is a vivid storyteller who brings her characters to life and manages to transport the reader to the tropical heat of 1935 Florida effortlessly.
I picked this novel up at a second hand book sale because I liked the title and the blurb intrigued me. I had never heard about it but although it deals with several heavy themes, I enjoyed reading it. I thought that the author managed to create several memorable characters and captured the racial tensions quite well. Her descriptions of the hurricane managed to convey a strong sense of its fearsome and destructive power. Although Heron Bay is a fictional town, the force 5 hurricane that hit the Florida Keys on Labour Day 1935 and the subsequent destruction and loss of life that it caused was real.
“Where’s it heading?” “Can’t tell yet. It’s playing games with us. Ships are reporting that it moves, then stops, then moves again in a different direction. Like it can’t make up its mind.”
“Jenson is a better storm tracker than any of those fancy scientists down in Key West. He can feel a big one coming, just by the wind and the waves and his barometer. If he’s worried, you should be too. For that matter, all of us should.”
Vanessa Lafaye is a vivid storyteller who brings her characters to life and manages to transport the reader to the tropical heat of 1935 Florida effortlessly.
I picked this novel up at a second hand book sale because I liked the title and the blurb intrigued me. I had never heard about it but although it deals with several heavy themes, I enjoyed reading it. I thought that the author managed to create several memorable characters and captured the racial tensions quite well. Her descriptions of the hurricane managed to convey a strong sense of its fearsome and destructive power. Although Heron Bay is a fictional town, the force 5 hurricane that hit the Florida Keys on Labour Day 1935 and the subsequent destruction and loss of life that it caused was real.
“Where’s it heading?” “Can’t tell yet. It’s playing games with us. Ships are reporting that it moves, then stops, then moves again in a different direction. Like it can’t make up its mind.”
Summertime is incredibly well written. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this tense while reading a book. The first half took me a while to get into but the last half was so descriptive that you actually felt like you could be there. The hurricane destruction was terrifying and so sad