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The Book of Summers
Beth Lowe has been sent a parcel.
Inside is a letter informing her that her long-estranged mother has died, and a scrapbook Beth has never seen before. Entitled The Book of Summers, it's stuffed with photographs and mementos complied by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth spent in rural Hungary.
It was a time when she trod the tightrope between separated parents and two very different countries; her bewitching but imperfect Hungarian mother and her gentle, reticent English father; the dazzling house of a Hungarian artist and an empty-feeling cottage in deepest Devon. And it was a time that came to the most brutal of ends the year Beth turned sixteen.
Since then, Beth hasn't allowed herself to think about those years of her childhood. But the arrival of The Book of Summers brings the past tumbling back into the present; as vivid, painful and vital as ever.
Inside is a letter informing her that her long-estranged mother has died, and a scrapbook Beth has never seen before. Entitled The Book of Summers, it's stuffed with photographs and mementos complied by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth spent in rural Hungary.
It was a time when she trod the tightrope between separated parents and two very different countries; her bewitching but imperfect Hungarian mother and her gentle, reticent English father; the dazzling house of a Hungarian artist and an empty-feeling cottage in deepest Devon. And it was a time that came to the most brutal of ends the year Beth turned sixteen.
Since then, Beth hasn't allowed herself to think about those years of her childhood. But the arrival of The Book of Summers brings the past tumbling back into the present; as vivid, painful and vital as ever.
324 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2012
132 people are currently reading
2167 people want to read
About the author
Emylia Hall
22 books250 followersEmylia Hall lives with her husband and son in Bristol, where she writes from a hut in the garden and dreams of the sea. THE SHELL HOUSE DETECTIVES is her first crime novel and is inspired by her love of Cornwall’s wild landscape. Emylia has published four previous novels, including Richard and Judy Book Club pick THE BOOK OF SUMMERS and THE THOUSAND LIGHTS HOTEL. Her work has been translated into ten languages and broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music. She is the founder of Mothership Writers and is a writing coach at The Novelry.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 351 reviews
July 9, 2015
I am giving this a generous rating, because I'm in a generous mood, and the weather has been beautiful lately (although I say this just as the temperature has dropped 10 degrees and it's started raining), and this book - as the title would suggest - is perfect for long, hot, sunny days.
Beth (short for Erzsébet) is an ordinary single woman of about 30, living in London with a scatty flatmate and a nice job in an art gallery. Her life seems fairly uneventful, but we know from the beginning that she has long-buried secrets, exemplified by an awkward meeting with her father. He visits Beth because she has been sent a package he thinks is important: it turns out to be a scrapbook compiled by her estranged mother, Marika, and brings with it the news that Marika has passed away. This revelation, combined with the collection of old photos contained within the scrapbook, prompt Beth to look back on the summers she spent with her mother in Hungary between the ages of ten and sixteen.
I started this thinking it was either going to be an absolutely brilliant read and a book I'd fall in love with, or that it would turn out to be mushy chick-lit rubbish and I'd hate it. In fact, I was wrong on both counts. I didn't find The Book of Summers as enthralling as I hoped I might, but it's certainly not sentimental trash. It's a detailed exploration of childhood, nostalgia and family, focusing mainly on Beth's relationship with her passionate, unpredictable mother: there's also Beth's first romance with Tamás, the 'boy next door' in Hungary. The mystery of the story lies in why Beth stopped visiting Hungary, and why she has not spoken to Marika since the summer she was sixteen. I had no idea whatsoever what the twist was going to be, and the gradually building tension throughout the chapters made my interest in finding out increase dramatically as the book's climax neared. I have to say I was a bit disappointed by what the big secret actually was after all that anticipation, although the author did an excellent job of avoiding any spoilers or clues in the rest of the narrative.
The language is enormously evocative - in particular, the contrast between romantic Hungary and (to the young Beth) dreary England is portrayed very effectively - but it's also excessively florid. It took me quite a while to get used to this, especially as Beth is extremely fond of fleshing out the details of unknown situations in her own imagination, and adding descriptive flourishes that really aren't needed. Certain portions of the dialogue are so inauthentic as to be cringeworthy - I'm thinking particularly of the recalled conversation between Beth and Justin, which stood out like a sore thumb for me even though it's a very short exchange. And, of course - as I knew it would - the book just has to end with .
The Book of Summers is a charming first novel, rich with atmosphere and nostalgic detail. My advice, though, is to read this in a park on a sunny day, or by the pool on holiday... I just don't think its dreamy, hazy recreation of childhood summer days would have captivated me quite so much without the real-life backdrop to match. A book of summers, then, but also a book for summer.
Beth (short for Erzsébet) is an ordinary single woman of about 30, living in London with a scatty flatmate and a nice job in an art gallery. Her life seems fairly uneventful, but we know from the beginning that she has long-buried secrets, exemplified by an awkward meeting with her father. He visits Beth because she has been sent a package he thinks is important: it turns out to be a scrapbook compiled by her estranged mother, Marika, and brings with it the news that Marika has passed away. This revelation, combined with the collection of old photos contained within the scrapbook, prompt Beth to look back on the summers she spent with her mother in Hungary between the ages of ten and sixteen.
I started this thinking it was either going to be an absolutely brilliant read and a book I'd fall in love with, or that it would turn out to be mushy chick-lit rubbish and I'd hate it. In fact, I was wrong on both counts. I didn't find The Book of Summers as enthralling as I hoped I might, but it's certainly not sentimental trash. It's a detailed exploration of childhood, nostalgia and family, focusing mainly on Beth's relationship with her passionate, unpredictable mother: there's also Beth's first romance with Tamás, the 'boy next door' in Hungary. The mystery of the story lies in why Beth stopped visiting Hungary, and why she has not spoken to Marika since the summer she was sixteen. I had no idea whatsoever what the twist was going to be, and the gradually building tension throughout the chapters made my interest in finding out increase dramatically as the book's climax neared. I have to say I was a bit disappointed by what the big secret actually was after all that anticipation, although the author did an excellent job of avoiding any spoilers or clues in the rest of the narrative.
The language is enormously evocative - in particular, the contrast between romantic Hungary and (to the young Beth) dreary England is portrayed very effectively - but it's also excessively florid. It took me quite a while to get used to this, especially as Beth is extremely fond of fleshing out the details of unknown situations in her own imagination, and adding descriptive flourishes that really aren't needed. Certain portions of the dialogue are so inauthentic as to be cringeworthy - I'm thinking particularly of the recalled conversation between Beth and Justin, which stood out like a sore thumb for me even though it's a very short exchange. And, of course - as I knew it would - the book just has to end with .
The Book of Summers is a charming first novel, rich with atmosphere and nostalgic detail. My advice, though, is to read this in a park on a sunny day, or by the pool on holiday... I just don't think its dreamy, hazy recreation of childhood summer days would have captivated me quite so much without the real-life backdrop to match. A book of summers, then, but also a book for summer.
March 18, 2012
All week I've been carrying The Book of Summers with me, and opening it whenever I could so that I could be transported into another world.
First there was London, where thirty-year old Beth worked in an art gallery and lived a quiet life. The details of her world, her life, her situation were so well drawn that I was pulled in straight away.
Beth's equilibrium was disturbed by a visit from her father. They had been close when she was a child and he was bringing her up alone, she remembered that well, and yet they had drifted apart and their relationship had become strangely formal.
He brought a package that had arrived for his daughter. A package from Hungary, where for seven summers Beth had visited the mother who had left when she was still an infant.
Beth didn't want to open the package; she and her mother had been estranged since her last visit, when she was sixteen years-old; she didn't want to revisit the past. But she had to, she had to know what was in the package, why it had been sent.
And so it was that Beth opened The Book of Summers, the record that her mother had kept of those seven visits.
She sat in Victoria Park with the book, and as she read she relived those seven summers. And I relived them with her, completely transported to other times and places.
I saw cool, damp Devon and warm, dry Hungary. I saw an old-fashioned, undemonstrative father and a warm, outgoing mother. I saw a quite day to day routine in Devon, and holiday fun in Hungary. And I saw Beth begin to grow up; a coming of age, very nearly.
It's a slow story, a little short on plot but long on lovely descriptions, well drawn characters, real emotions, and intriguing details, that bring the child and her world to life quite beautifully.
The child's perspective is held perfectly, but there was also space that allowed me to see how she had been affected by her family circumstances and things changed from one visit to the next.
I was completely caught up in Beth's life, I was always aware that something must go wrong, that something must have happened for there to have been such a long estrangement.
Something did go wrong, and I understood Beth's reaction and her behaviour completely. I wasn't quite as convinced about how her family had dealt with certain things in the past, but in the end I decided that though it was unlikely it was possible.
People sometimes do some very foolish things.
And then I was swept away, to an ending that was bittersweet and exactly right.
This is a lovely debut novel, and it would suit leisurely reading on a warm summer day very, very well ...
First there was London, where thirty-year old Beth worked in an art gallery and lived a quiet life. The details of her world, her life, her situation were so well drawn that I was pulled in straight away.
Beth's equilibrium was disturbed by a visit from her father. They had been close when she was a child and he was bringing her up alone, she remembered that well, and yet they had drifted apart and their relationship had become strangely formal.
He brought a package that had arrived for his daughter. A package from Hungary, where for seven summers Beth had visited the mother who had left when she was still an infant.
Beth didn't want to open the package; she and her mother had been estranged since her last visit, when she was sixteen years-old; she didn't want to revisit the past. But she had to, she had to know what was in the package, why it had been sent.
And so it was that Beth opened The Book of Summers, the record that her mother had kept of those seven visits.
She sat in Victoria Park with the book, and as she read she relived those seven summers. And I relived them with her, completely transported to other times and places.
I saw cool, damp Devon and warm, dry Hungary. I saw an old-fashioned, undemonstrative father and a warm, outgoing mother. I saw a quite day to day routine in Devon, and holiday fun in Hungary. And I saw Beth begin to grow up; a coming of age, very nearly.
It's a slow story, a little short on plot but long on lovely descriptions, well drawn characters, real emotions, and intriguing details, that bring the child and her world to life quite beautifully.
The child's perspective is held perfectly, but there was also space that allowed me to see how she had been affected by her family circumstances and things changed from one visit to the next.
I was completely caught up in Beth's life, I was always aware that something must go wrong, that something must have happened for there to have been such a long estrangement.
Something did go wrong, and I understood Beth's reaction and her behaviour completely. I wasn't quite as convinced about how her family had dealt with certain things in the past, but in the end I decided that though it was unlikely it was possible.
People sometimes do some very foolish things.
And then I was swept away, to an ending that was bittersweet and exactly right.
This is a lovely debut novel, and it would suit leisurely reading on a warm summer day very, very well ...
February 26, 2012
“I realized then that I’d tried so hard to forget the big things, that all the little things had gone too.”
For twenty years Beth Low has suppressed memories of her mother, Marika, and Hungary. Then her father visits her in London and gives her a package with Hungarian stamps on it. Inside she finds a letter, telling her that Marika has died and an album filled with photos. Photos capturing the seven summers during with Beth visited Hungary.
Beth isn’t sure that she wants to revisit the past she has so successfully forgotten, but once she opens the book, twenty year old memories come flooding back, unstoppable and precise, not a single detail forgotten. Memories of the time when she was still called Erzsebeth, Erzsi for short. Memories of when she was nine and she went to Hungary with her parents for the first time. Hungary, the home her mother had to flee as a child and the place she couldn’t leave for a second time. Memories of the summers she spent visiting her mother and the new man in her life, the painter Zoltan Karoly, a loud man, larger then life.. And memories of the rest of her years, living a very different life in England with her quiet and withdrawn father.
Summer after summer, Erzsi grows up from a child into a teenager, experiencing her first love, first kiss and first glass of wine during the short time she gets to stay in Hungary every year.
And then the last summer. The summer her love for Tamas ran deeper than ever and the year she decided that she too would leave England and make her future in Hungary. The summer of the bombshell that rocked her life and everything she thought was true. The summer that spelt the end of her holidays in Hungary, the end of every contact with Marika and the end of Erzsi.
This book turned out to be one of those unexpected treasures we are lucky enough to come across occasionally. Written in beautiful, descriptive words and sentences it delivers a story filled with love, heartbreak and totally human and fallible characters. Characters with enough depth, faults and good qualities to make them real. There are times you want to embrace them, slap them or just scream at them, because you want the course of their lives to be different from what it is, because you care enough about them to want better for them.
This is a book laden with detail yet never boring or overly informative. It feels as the narrator is describing memories as they come back to her, stating the details as much for her own as benefit as for us, the readers. A picture, at times of photographic clarity, is painted with words that ring true and gently push the reader forward to whatever may be happening next.
It is clear from reading this book that the author has spent a lot of time in Hungary herself. She captures the landscape, the smells and the tastes of the country in vivid detail and with obvious love. A love she’s kind enough to share with the reader.
This would make a wonderful book for a reading group discussion for a multitude of reasons I can’t share here without spoiling the story for those who haven’t read it yet.
For twenty years Beth Low has suppressed memories of her mother, Marika, and Hungary. Then her father visits her in London and gives her a package with Hungarian stamps on it. Inside she finds a letter, telling her that Marika has died and an album filled with photos. Photos capturing the seven summers during with Beth visited Hungary.
Beth isn’t sure that she wants to revisit the past she has so successfully forgotten, but once she opens the book, twenty year old memories come flooding back, unstoppable and precise, not a single detail forgotten. Memories of the time when she was still called Erzsebeth, Erzsi for short. Memories of when she was nine and she went to Hungary with her parents for the first time. Hungary, the home her mother had to flee as a child and the place she couldn’t leave for a second time. Memories of the summers she spent visiting her mother and the new man in her life, the painter Zoltan Karoly, a loud man, larger then life.. And memories of the rest of her years, living a very different life in England with her quiet and withdrawn father.
Summer after summer, Erzsi grows up from a child into a teenager, experiencing her first love, first kiss and first glass of wine during the short time she gets to stay in Hungary every year.
And then the last summer. The summer her love for Tamas ran deeper than ever and the year she decided that she too would leave England and make her future in Hungary. The summer of the bombshell that rocked her life and everything she thought was true. The summer that spelt the end of her holidays in Hungary, the end of every contact with Marika and the end of Erzsi.
This book turned out to be one of those unexpected treasures we are lucky enough to come across occasionally. Written in beautiful, descriptive words and sentences it delivers a story filled with love, heartbreak and totally human and fallible characters. Characters with enough depth, faults and good qualities to make them real. There are times you want to embrace them, slap them or just scream at them, because you want the course of their lives to be different from what it is, because you care enough about them to want better for them.
This is a book laden with detail yet never boring or overly informative. It feels as the narrator is describing memories as they come back to her, stating the details as much for her own as benefit as for us, the readers. A picture, at times of photographic clarity, is painted with words that ring true and gently push the reader forward to whatever may be happening next.
It is clear from reading this book that the author has spent a lot of time in Hungary herself. She captures the landscape, the smells and the tastes of the country in vivid detail and with obvious love. A love she’s kind enough to share with the reader.
This would make a wonderful book for a reading group discussion for a multitude of reasons I can’t share here without spoiling the story for those who haven’t read it yet.
January 31, 2013
The Book of Summers caught my eye a long time ago, on the Waterstones' shelf, along with other summer reads. The back cover promised a trip to exotic Hungary, full of vivid descriptions and family mysteries and I must admit that, after eventually finishing it, I am rather disappointed.
Everything starts in England, when Beth receives a letter from Hungary, telling her that her mother Marika has died. With it comes the Book of Summers, which contains photographs of the seven wonderful holidays she spent in Hungary, before a tragic event put an end to this wonderful time.
In the first few pages already, we know that Marika has died. Most of the novel consists then of memories of Beth's life in England for a short time with both her parents, of her father and her in England and of her holiday in Hungary. Each chapter starts with the description of a picture, which reminds her of the summer it was taken and everything she experienced then, from the discovery of her mother's life and her first love.
As I expected, there are numerous descriptions of the places she visits. However, I felt that it was sometimes too much; too many adjectives in one sentence and, above all, the same places described several times. The advantage is that I have a precise image of Villa Serena, but I felt like the story was not really going anywhere, that everything was slow and that Beth did not really do much during the summer. It took me weeks to read it and unfortunately only the last third of the book really held my interest. The promise of a secret made me finish it: I wanted to know why Beth stopped going to Hungary, did not see her mother anymore and why everything changed. I must say that this twist in the plot was rather unexpected and Emylia Hall did not leave any clues which would enable the reader to guess the secret in the first chapters.
The setting is wonderful, but somehow artificial because we only get to know Beth through her summers in Hungary and we get to know people through her own eyes. It felt strange not to know much about her life in England, where she spends most of the time, and to have so many details about her yearly stay with her mother. In the same way, her relationships did not seem extremely realistic, probably because they were too stereotypical – a father with whom she cannot talk, an exotic and attractive mother, a wonderful boy she falls in love with at first sight and keeps loving through the years, although she only sees him a few weeks every year... I would have liked to know more about her feelings, because I do not have the impression that I got to know her at all, despite the three hundred pages I spent by her side.
While the beginning is slow, the end is rather quick. From the moment Beth discovers the secret that changes her life, everything moves on rapidly and we do not have time to think about her actions or the consequences of the decisions the characters made. The last pages are a little too romantic and unreal for my liking, but I enjoyed the fact that the author left it (rather) open and that everybody can have his own interpretation of what is going to happen.
Altogether, The Book of Summers did not live up to my expectations. I liked the general idea, the descriptions of Hungarian landscape, the way the story is built and the discovery of the secret, but the lack of balance disturbed me. I felt that everything was to descriptive while the story was not really going anywhere, that Beth's relationships to the other characters were artificial and that to understand her better and get to like her more, we would have needed to know more about her English life as well in order to compare it with her Hungarian summers. Nevertheless, it is Emylia Hall's first novel, a nice and easy summer read, and she will probably refine her style in her next publications.
Everything starts in England, when Beth receives a letter from Hungary, telling her that her mother Marika has died. With it comes the Book of Summers, which contains photographs of the seven wonderful holidays she spent in Hungary, before a tragic event put an end to this wonderful time.
In the first few pages already, we know that Marika has died. Most of the novel consists then of memories of Beth's life in England for a short time with both her parents, of her father and her in England and of her holiday in Hungary. Each chapter starts with the description of a picture, which reminds her of the summer it was taken and everything she experienced then, from the discovery of her mother's life and her first love.
As I expected, there are numerous descriptions of the places she visits. However, I felt that it was sometimes too much; too many adjectives in one sentence and, above all, the same places described several times. The advantage is that I have a precise image of Villa Serena, but I felt like the story was not really going anywhere, that everything was slow and that Beth did not really do much during the summer. It took me weeks to read it and unfortunately only the last third of the book really held my interest. The promise of a secret made me finish it: I wanted to know why Beth stopped going to Hungary, did not see her mother anymore and why everything changed. I must say that this twist in the plot was rather unexpected and Emylia Hall did not leave any clues which would enable the reader to guess the secret in the first chapters.
The setting is wonderful, but somehow artificial because we only get to know Beth through her summers in Hungary and we get to know people through her own eyes. It felt strange not to know much about her life in England, where she spends most of the time, and to have so many details about her yearly stay with her mother. In the same way, her relationships did not seem extremely realistic, probably because they were too stereotypical – a father with whom she cannot talk, an exotic and attractive mother, a wonderful boy she falls in love with at first sight and keeps loving through the years, although she only sees him a few weeks every year... I would have liked to know more about her feelings, because I do not have the impression that I got to know her at all, despite the three hundred pages I spent by her side.
While the beginning is slow, the end is rather quick. From the moment Beth discovers the secret that changes her life, everything moves on rapidly and we do not have time to think about her actions or the consequences of the decisions the characters made. The last pages are a little too romantic and unreal for my liking, but I enjoyed the fact that the author left it (rather) open and that everybody can have his own interpretation of what is going to happen.
Altogether, The Book of Summers did not live up to my expectations. I liked the general idea, the descriptions of Hungarian landscape, the way the story is built and the discovery of the secret, but the lack of balance disturbed me. I felt that everything was to descriptive while the story was not really going anywhere, that Beth's relationships to the other characters were artificial and that to understand her better and get to like her more, we would have needed to know more about her English life as well in order to compare it with her Hungarian summers. Nevertheless, it is Emylia Hall's first novel, a nice and easy summer read, and she will probably refine her style in her next publications.
February 21, 2012
Debut novelist Emylia Hall has taken inspiration from family holidays to rural Hungary during her childhood and woven these memories with her own imaginings to create a truly beautiful, heartfelt book.
In the novel, we meet Beth Lowe in the present day, living in London and working in an art gallery. Her father has come to visit her, and has brought with him a package for Beth that has been delivered to her back home in Devon. On opening it, and unwrapping The Book of Summers, she opens up the door to all the days of her past that she had buried away; 'As the years passed, and I strengthened my resolve, my childhood fell to time. And I drew a lid on it, as one might the contents of an old chest, pushed to the corner of an attic.' Through the photographs in the book that her mother Marika has collated, and which Beth now holds in her hands, she is drawn back once more to the memories of those summers she spent in Hungary as she grew from a girl to a young woman.
We journey back in time with her through the recollections in her mind's eye, as she travels to Hungary with her parents for the first time; the Berlin Wall has fallen and her mother desires to see her native land once again. When they return home to Harkham, Devon, it is without Marika. And so Beth's time spent in Hungary begins.
The author has captured the excitement and discovery first of childhood, where there is little fear and everything is there to be experienced, and then of adolesence, and the first feelings of love. The summers that Beth, then Erzsi, spent in Hungary with Marika, at Villa Serena, the house she shared with an artist. She has captured equally well the feelings of someone harbouring pain in their past; somewhere they can't revisit because of the intensity of feeling that has been locked away ever since the year Beth turned sixteen, and she left Hungary behind her. 'I know this much; the old hurts never go. In fact they're the things that shape us, they're the things we look to, when we turn out rough-shod, and messy at the edges.'
The thing that struck me the most as I began reading this novel is how beautiful the prose is, line after line. The author conjures up some gorgeous images. More than this, I felt that the author has captured life, captured human emotions; you can recognise parts of yourself here. And she has delivered such genuine truths about love, about families and relationships, and secrets and pain. I wish I could write like this.
I was very moved by this story, and close to the end I cried. I found the author had awoken memories in myself of past times, some happy, some extremely sad. If a novelist succeeds in touching the heart of the reader in such a way, surely they have succeeded in what they set out to do. This is, amazingly, a first novel, and the author is young. I can't wait to read what comes next. I couldn't say more than if you're thinking of reading The Book of Summers - buy it, read it, enjoy the marvellous prose, return to the prologue and start it all again.
In the novel, we meet Beth Lowe in the present day, living in London and working in an art gallery. Her father has come to visit her, and has brought with him a package for Beth that has been delivered to her back home in Devon. On opening it, and unwrapping The Book of Summers, she opens up the door to all the days of her past that she had buried away; 'As the years passed, and I strengthened my resolve, my childhood fell to time. And I drew a lid on it, as one might the contents of an old chest, pushed to the corner of an attic.' Through the photographs in the book that her mother Marika has collated, and which Beth now holds in her hands, she is drawn back once more to the memories of those summers she spent in Hungary as she grew from a girl to a young woman.
We journey back in time with her through the recollections in her mind's eye, as she travels to Hungary with her parents for the first time; the Berlin Wall has fallen and her mother desires to see her native land once again. When they return home to Harkham, Devon, it is without Marika. And so Beth's time spent in Hungary begins.
The author has captured the excitement and discovery first of childhood, where there is little fear and everything is there to be experienced, and then of adolesence, and the first feelings of love. The summers that Beth, then Erzsi, spent in Hungary with Marika, at Villa Serena, the house she shared with an artist. She has captured equally well the feelings of someone harbouring pain in their past; somewhere they can't revisit because of the intensity of feeling that has been locked away ever since the year Beth turned sixteen, and she left Hungary behind her. 'I know this much; the old hurts never go. In fact they're the things that shape us, they're the things we look to, when we turn out rough-shod, and messy at the edges.'
The thing that struck me the most as I began reading this novel is how beautiful the prose is, line after line. The author conjures up some gorgeous images. More than this, I felt that the author has captured life, captured human emotions; you can recognise parts of yourself here. And she has delivered such genuine truths about love, about families and relationships, and secrets and pain. I wish I could write like this.
I was very moved by this story, and close to the end I cried. I found the author had awoken memories in myself of past times, some happy, some extremely sad. If a novelist succeeds in touching the heart of the reader in such a way, surely they have succeeded in what they set out to do. This is, amazingly, a first novel, and the author is young. I can't wait to read what comes next. I couldn't say more than if you're thinking of reading The Book of Summers - buy it, read it, enjoy the marvellous prose, return to the prologue and start it all again.
October 10, 2015
Bien.
¡Es curioso cómo a veces nuestra relación con un libro depende tanto del momento en que lo leemos!
Empecé esta novela en Agosto, en unas semanas en las que tenía muchas ganas de leer a buen ritmo y esta historia se me atragantaba. Parecía que no terminaba de cogerle el punto. Tanto que decidí aparcarlo por un tiempo. Ayer mismo lo retomé y las trescientas páginas que me quedaban por delante solo me han durado 24 horas. Sin duda, a veces el momento en el que cogemos un libro es tan importante como la pericia del autor a la hora de sumergirnos en su historia.
Lo que en Agosto se me hacía lento, parado... se me hizo interesante y de ritmo sosegado en esta ocasión. La narración del pasado de Beth se desarrolla sin prisa, con la riqueza del que va descubriendo algo importante en la vida de un personaje.
Una historia sencilla, sin las pretensiones de los dramas rocambolescos. Un paseo por la vida y los veranos de una niña que va creciendo ante nuestros ojos, descubriendo aspectos del mundo que no siempre son tal y como los creímos siempre.
¡Es curioso cómo a veces nuestra relación con un libro depende tanto del momento en que lo leemos!
Empecé esta novela en Agosto, en unas semanas en las que tenía muchas ganas de leer a buen ritmo y esta historia se me atragantaba. Parecía que no terminaba de cogerle el punto. Tanto que decidí aparcarlo por un tiempo. Ayer mismo lo retomé y las trescientas páginas que me quedaban por delante solo me han durado 24 horas. Sin duda, a veces el momento en el que cogemos un libro es tan importante como la pericia del autor a la hora de sumergirnos en su historia.
Lo que en Agosto se me hacía lento, parado... se me hizo interesante y de ritmo sosegado en esta ocasión. La narración del pasado de Beth se desarrolla sin prisa, con la riqueza del que va descubriendo algo importante en la vida de un personaje.
Una historia sencilla, sin las pretensiones de los dramas rocambolescos. Un paseo por la vida y los veranos de una niña que va creciendo ante nuestros ojos, descubriendo aspectos del mundo que no siempre son tal y como los creímos siempre.
January 5, 2014
Beth Lowe has been sent a parcel.
Inside is a letter informing her that Marika, her long-estranged mother has died. There is a scrapbook Beth has never seen before. Entitled The Book of Summers, it’s stuffed with photographs and mementos compiled by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth spent in rural Hungary.
The Book of Summers is a wonderful evocative tale of childhood memories brought back to life through unexpected means and the effect this has on the present day.
Beth has buried a lot of her past for reasons we are unaware of early in the novel and as she recalls those memories of summers spent in Hungary we begin to get a picture of her life and the people in it. The descriptive prose utilised by Emylia Hall here is stunning – I almost feel that I have visited those places myself – the sights, sounds and day to day life of a completely different culture bursts from the page.
So deeply immersed was I in Beth’s summer holiday world that the reason for her ultimate estrangement from her Mother came like a punch to the gut even though I was expecting it – Ms Hall puts you right in the moment and uses just the right amount of misdirection to keep you focussed on the time you are in – you forget that you already know at some point these holidays stopped.
It is a beautiful book to be sure, a book of life, love, growing pains and the secrets families keep – I was right in it all the way. If I had one small niggle it would be that I wished for more about Beth’s life in England to offset the Hungary images which were so well drawn – more of a juxtaposition if you like - but that aside this is a perfect novel to curl up in a chair with and get whisked away to another world.
Happy Reading Folks!
Inside is a letter informing her that Marika, her long-estranged mother has died. There is a scrapbook Beth has never seen before. Entitled The Book of Summers, it’s stuffed with photographs and mementos compiled by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth spent in rural Hungary.
The Book of Summers is a wonderful evocative tale of childhood memories brought back to life through unexpected means and the effect this has on the present day.
Beth has buried a lot of her past for reasons we are unaware of early in the novel and as she recalls those memories of summers spent in Hungary we begin to get a picture of her life and the people in it. The descriptive prose utilised by Emylia Hall here is stunning – I almost feel that I have visited those places myself – the sights, sounds and day to day life of a completely different culture bursts from the page.
So deeply immersed was I in Beth’s summer holiday world that the reason for her ultimate estrangement from her Mother came like a punch to the gut even though I was expecting it – Ms Hall puts you right in the moment and uses just the right amount of misdirection to keep you focussed on the time you are in – you forget that you already know at some point these holidays stopped.
It is a beautiful book to be sure, a book of life, love, growing pains and the secrets families keep – I was right in it all the way. If I had one small niggle it would be that I wished for more about Beth’s life in England to offset the Hungary images which were so well drawn – more of a juxtaposition if you like - but that aside this is a perfect novel to curl up in a chair with and get whisked away to another world.
Happy Reading Folks!
July 10, 2012
This book is magical, sad, tragic and redemptive all wrapped up in a love story to Hungary. A country about which, I must admit, I know very little. As the tale begins we meet Beth Lowe, a somewhat constrained and shall I say it, boring, young English woman with a very poor relationship with her father. He is coming to visit and the reader can tell she is oh so hopeful for more between them. But he comes not to see her but to deliver a package from Hungary - a package full of memories Beth would rather not revisit.
I fell into this book and could not put it down. The writing! The writing! It is magical - it drew me in and wouldn't let me go. I felt the sun. I was refreshed by a dip in a pool deep in the forest. I fell in love with a country I know nothing about. Such is the power of Ms. Hall's pen. As to the story - she had me raving at characters, crying at passages and rejoicing at conclusions that were still very uncertain. I can't say I agree with or understand the actions of her protagonist - it's a lot of anger to hold for a very long time - but I can't say that I didn't enjoy the journey.
I'm keeping this one for it is one that deserves another read or two. I know that I'll find nuances I missed on my first read through that will enhance the story and it's one of those tales that will read better with foreknowledge of the ending. This will be one of my top ten for the year.
I fell into this book and could not put it down. The writing! The writing! It is magical - it drew me in and wouldn't let me go. I felt the sun. I was refreshed by a dip in a pool deep in the forest. I fell in love with a country I know nothing about. Such is the power of Ms. Hall's pen. As to the story - she had me raving at characters, crying at passages and rejoicing at conclusions that were still very uncertain. I can't say I agree with or understand the actions of her protagonist - it's a lot of anger to hold for a very long time - but I can't say that I didn't enjoy the journey.
I'm keeping this one for it is one that deserves another read or two. I know that I'll find nuances I missed on my first read through that will enhance the story and it's one of those tales that will read better with foreknowledge of the ending. This will be one of my top ten for the year.
August 20, 2012
One of the most boring books I've read in a while, I would only recommend it if you have insomnia. The setting in Hungary is interesting but everything is over-described. It's not even things that have relevance to the plot, ordinary everyday objects get 2 or 3 adjectives. Some of the descriptive passages are lovely but they are drowned out. It's not helped by the narrator being a selfish spoilt brat. Even though it's written in 1st person there's rarely any indication of emotion. For instance when Marika leaves Beth hardly reacts, when she visits her feelings are more centred on a boy she doesn't know than the woman she has presumably been missing. Worst of all is hardly anything happens, page after page after page describing sofas or rain or cars without anything interesting happening. When the twist finally comes it is completely illogical. Anyone with even half a brain cell would have told Beth the news when Marika left them and she was a child, if they hadn't told her before. It makes no sense and having ploughed through 100s of pages to get there it was irritating to have something so stupid at the end of it.
January 11, 2015
I literally half read this book. Starting and thinking it would move along soon, I decided to quit after finished chapter 5 and skip to the last two chapters. I seldom feel a book should be bashed but this book seemed to have no point to it other than wasting my money having bought it. I could not connect to any of the characters much other than feeling that Beth was a selfish brat and her father deserved my sympathy for his maltreatment from his daughter and the even more selfish and ridiculous Marika. I felt there was no real point to the story and did not find the secret that is revealed made much point in the end. I would have liked it had the secret been revealed early on perhaps as the relationship between Beth and her father could have become more of a story. As it was, I am very disappointed and will retire this title to a very short list of books that were a waste of my time.
The old saying don't judge a book by its cover is true as I thought the cover to this and the title was simply beautiful. It was not worth the read and oh how I hate having to bash the work of any author so sorry to this one.
The old saying don't judge a book by its cover is true as I thought the cover to this and the title was simply beautiful. It was not worth the read and oh how I hate having to bash the work of any author so sorry to this one.
September 28, 2012
This is a quick and compelling read, very atmospheric - the coming-of-age tale of a girl torn between two worlds. Erszi is the daughter of a separated couple, a quiet, reserved English father and a passionate, artistic Hungarian mother. However, gradually it becomes apparent that all the characters involved are more complex than the national sterotypes on the surface.
The story unfolds in retrospect after heroine Erzsi is sent a scrapbook of photographs compiled by her long-estranged mother, Marika, and remembers the summers she spent with her in rural Hungary. The book is full of seductive colours and flavours and yet has a feeling of impending doom running through most of it. I did feel that the first chapters were better than the last ones, and that the last part of the book probably has too much plot - there is a surprise twist which seemed rather forced and unlikely to me. But I loved it all the same and found it a hard book to put down - will look out for more by this author.
The story unfolds in retrospect after heroine Erzsi is sent a scrapbook of photographs compiled by her long-estranged mother, Marika, and remembers the summers she spent with her in rural Hungary. The book is full of seductive colours and flavours and yet has a feeling of impending doom running through most of it. I did feel that the first chapters were better than the last ones, and that the last part of the book probably has too much plot - there is a surprise twist which seemed rather forced and unlikely to me. But I loved it all the same and found it a hard book to put down - will look out for more by this author.
July 10, 2016
Mais uma leitura apenas ok.
Conta a história de uma menina que vai para a Hungria passar férias com a sua mãe,uma vez que os seus pais são divorciados e o pai é inglês, e ficou com a sua custódia. Ela passa 7 verões perfeitos até a grande revelação se dar. E a sua relação com qualquer deles não volta a ser a mesma.
Achei a história muito cheia dos clichés da menina dividida entre o seu pai muito british e frio, mas que a adora e a mãe excentrica e exótica, que larga tudo e todos para ir viver para a sua terra de origem. E no fundo, como ela nunca ultrapassou o trauma, apesar de ter feito tudo ao seu alcance para esquecer e andar para a frente com a sua vida. E nem a revelação tornou o livro melhor. Não é mau, as descrições da Hungria são bonitas mas não chega.
Conta a história de uma menina que vai para a Hungria passar férias com a sua mãe,uma vez que os seus pais são divorciados e o pai é inglês, e ficou com a sua custódia. Ela passa 7 verões perfeitos até a grande revelação se dar. E a sua relação com qualquer deles não volta a ser a mesma.
Achei a história muito cheia dos clichés da menina dividida entre o seu pai muito british e frio, mas que a adora e a mãe excentrica e exótica, que larga tudo e todos para ir viver para a sua terra de origem. E no fundo, como ela nunca ultrapassou o trauma, apesar de ter feito tudo ao seu alcance para esquecer e andar para a frente com a sua vida. E nem a revelação tornou o livro melhor. Não é mau, as descrições da Hungria são bonitas mas não chega.
October 2, 2016
This was a beautifully written book. It got me hooked with its language and style, and I could not put it down.
I want to say so many pretty things, but I am at a loss for words so... it was great prose. Done!
Beth gets a book from her mother in Hungary, and we learn what happened, why she stopped going there at 16. Each beautiful summer from 10 to 16 is told, and it makes it sounds like a magical happy place filled with sunshine and laughter.
But something went wrong, why does she still think about it? She was torn between the love of her father and their English home and those wonderful weeks every summer abroad. There is first love, and well sunshine. It made me long for summer again.
A wonderful book. I do recommened it.
I want to say so many pretty things, but I am at a loss for words so... it was great prose. Done!
Beth gets a book from her mother in Hungary, and we learn what happened, why she stopped going there at 16. Each beautiful summer from 10 to 16 is told, and it makes it sounds like a magical happy place filled with sunshine and laughter.
But something went wrong, why does she still think about it? She was torn between the love of her father and their English home and those wonderful weeks every summer abroad. There is first love, and well sunshine. It made me long for summer again.
A wonderful book. I do recommened it.
April 21, 2012
While Beth is sitting in Victoria Park, London, the reader journeys alongside her into those six summers of visits to Hungary interspersed with moments of reality. We are completely immersed in the world as it was at that time. Those sun-drenched summers are portrayed with life and zest. Beth often compares herself to her mother as she tries to find her own place of belonging. The writing is evocative and the author uses figurative language to draw the reader’s imagination (I loved Hall’s writing style). As each year Beth is older, the author captures exactly the growth of the child from the innocence of the early days to the hedonistic teenager.
It is such a vibrant world. I experienced a different culture and so was also able to expand my own horizons. It is clear that the author has spent time in Hungary and has drawn on her own experiences.
The other characters – Zoltan, her mother’s partner; Tamas, the boy next door; were very real to me. Emylia Hall magically weaves their personalities from their actions – we are shown rather than told, which if you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know I love!
I didn’t see the crisis coming! Of course we know something brutal happens from the synopsis but not only was I so caught up in the experience of those Hungarian summers, I would never have been able to predict what was coming. There is only one clue to what it could be but the author cleverly drops this in at a very emotional moment when the reader isn’t concentrating on the why, only what is. I was stunned. I cried. I think this shows how emotionally involved I was in this world!
The sadness of the book coming into Beth’s life is the timing.
“How would it have been, if things had been different?” Beth asks her father.
The beauty of the book is that it unlocks Beth’s soul and allows her to reclaim a large part of her childhood that had previously been lost.
“Sometimes if you don’t go backwards, you can’t move forwards” Marika once said when she was trying to explain why she’d returned to Hungary.
The truths and honesty her father shares with her also allow for the healing to take place… so alongside the bone-aching sorrow is the chance to become whole.
I predict The Book of Summers will become widely read both at an individual level and with book groups. I will certainly be looking out for other novels by this author.
I read this uncorrected proof as part of The Real Readers programme.
It is such a vibrant world. I experienced a different culture and so was also able to expand my own horizons. It is clear that the author has spent time in Hungary and has drawn on her own experiences.
The other characters – Zoltan, her mother’s partner; Tamas, the boy next door; were very real to me. Emylia Hall magically weaves their personalities from their actions – we are shown rather than told, which if you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know I love!
I didn’t see the crisis coming! Of course we know something brutal happens from the synopsis but not only was I so caught up in the experience of those Hungarian summers, I would never have been able to predict what was coming. There is only one clue to what it could be but the author cleverly drops this in at a very emotional moment when the reader isn’t concentrating on the why, only what is. I was stunned. I cried. I think this shows how emotionally involved I was in this world!
The sadness of the book coming into Beth’s life is the timing.
“How would it have been, if things had been different?” Beth asks her father.
The beauty of the book is that it unlocks Beth’s soul and allows her to reclaim a large part of her childhood that had previously been lost.
“Sometimes if you don’t go backwards, you can’t move forwards” Marika once said when she was trying to explain why she’d returned to Hungary.
The truths and honesty her father shares with her also allow for the healing to take place… so alongside the bone-aching sorrow is the chance to become whole.
I predict The Book of Summers will become widely read both at an individual level and with book groups. I will certainly be looking out for other novels by this author.
I read this uncorrected proof as part of The Real Readers programme.
March 24, 2012
This book was an absolute surprise for me. Taking place in both present and past times, spanning across countries, we follow Beth Lowe as she looks through a scrapbook sent from an old friend, and created by her estranged mother. This book, called The Book of Summers, unlocks everything from 6 years she spent in Hungary, and the time surrounding it. The Book of Summers doesn’t only unlock those moments, they unlock a young Beth, and other feelings, and thoughts Beth thought she had left behind.
Emylia really cares about her characters: no matter what they’ve done you feel for them, you understand their reasons, you want them to be okay. This can be really difficult to achieve but Emylia makes it look easy. It’s important for me to like the characters, to want to follow their story, and see them succeed, and this Emylia manages to do with all of them.
Another thing the author manages to do is make you really feel the places you are in. There are no lengthy, boring descriptions, but she describes them well, you can see those places, feel them, want to be there. I mean I was ready to get a plane ticket to Hungary because of her book, and you can tell her love for this place, having travelled to Hungary herself since the Berlin Wall came down.
This is a book about re-awakenings, about never being too late, and to never ignore your heart. I fell in love with this book, the people, and the places, and I will be reading this again!
Emylia really cares about her characters: no matter what they’ve done you feel for them, you understand their reasons, you want them to be okay. This can be really difficult to achieve but Emylia makes it look easy. It’s important for me to like the characters, to want to follow their story, and see them succeed, and this Emylia manages to do with all of them.
Another thing the author manages to do is make you really feel the places you are in. There are no lengthy, boring descriptions, but she describes them well, you can see those places, feel them, want to be there. I mean I was ready to get a plane ticket to Hungary because of her book, and you can tell her love for this place, having travelled to Hungary herself since the Berlin Wall came down.
This is a book about re-awakenings, about never being too late, and to never ignore your heart. I fell in love with this book, the people, and the places, and I will be reading this again!
February 19, 2012
The summers of our childhood pass by in misty recollection, and yet for Beth Lowe the memories of her special summers as a child in Hungary are something to be concealed. When a package is given to her along with some devastating news, Beth needs to find inner strength in order to face the demons of her past. The package reveals the Book of Summers lovingly compiled by her mother, Marika, and recalling the summers of Beth’s childhood between the ages of 10 and 16, when Beth left her home in Devon with her reticent father, and became Erzsébet and ran wild amid the Hungarian beauty of Villa Serena.
This beautifully written coming of age novel captures the real meaning of adolescence. The faultless exploration of the indecision of young love expertly combines the demands of living a double life, with fragments of secrets, and a hint of regret.
However, the real skill of the author comes in the strength of her imagination; there is a poignant lyricism, together with a flawless narrative which captures perfectly a little girl trying to bridge the gap between two very different worlds.
Quite simply, The Book of Summers is a joy to read, and is an exceptionally good debut novel.
Without doubt I have found one of my books of 2012.
This beautifully written coming of age novel captures the real meaning of adolescence. The faultless exploration of the indecision of young love expertly combines the demands of living a double life, with fragments of secrets, and a hint of regret.
However, the real skill of the author comes in the strength of her imagination; there is a poignant lyricism, together with a flawless narrative which captures perfectly a little girl trying to bridge the gap between two very different worlds.
Quite simply, The Book of Summers is a joy to read, and is an exceptionally good debut novel.
Without doubt I have found one of my books of 2012.
September 2, 2018
Nem vou tentar escrever uma opinião sobre este livro. Não me apetece perder mais tempo com ele.
September 12, 2017
Vad har emylia hall gemensamt med JK Rowling? De förstör saker som inte behöver förstöras:( men ack vad mysig den va innan:)
March 16, 2012
The Book of Summers is the debut novel of UK writer Emylia Hall. However, you wouldn't know this if it weren't mentioned in the little bio in the front, as it's beautifully written and non-stop engaging. The book has a lot more depth than the cute flowery Summer-read the cover suggests it to have.
30 year-old Beth lives in London and spends most of her time in the art gallery where she works. She leads a bit of a lonely life but seems reasonably content with that. Until an unexpected visit from her father forces her to look at her past and reconsider some of the choices she's made. Her father, a man of few words, doesn't normally pop over from Devon unexpectedly so even before his arrival she already instinctively knows that something is wrong. This is confirmed when he shows her a package that came in the mail, one covered in foreign stamps.
Inside of it is a photobook chronicling the seven summers Beth spent in Hungary with her mother. As Beth turns the pages of the Book of Summers, the reader is transported into another place and time. Hall's account of the Hungarian countryside and people is extremely vivid and she makes the hot and exotic Summers sound magical and inviting, while the lush descriptions of the peppered food and homemade lemonade make mouths water. Throughout the years Beth, or Erzsi as she was known back then, changes from and innocent child into a teenager with conflicted emotions as she is torn between her bland life in England and the colourful Summer holidays in Hungary.
The big twist near the end of the novel doesn't leave as much of an impact as is intended, but that's okay. For me, this wasn't a novel about secret and intrigue or about finding out why Beth hasn't spoken to her mother in all these years. On the contrary. It was a story of rediscovery and finding out what's significant in the here and now. Even if this means realising that perhaps some decisions made in the past were not the right ones. You can reminiscence on the past but you can only change the course of your life in the present.
I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading The Book of Summers, it really is an exceptional debut. Far from the frolicky chick-lit I was expecting, it is a gem of a novel which I am ever so glad came into my mail box for review purposes as I probably wouldn't have known about the title otherwise.
30 year-old Beth lives in London and spends most of her time in the art gallery where she works. She leads a bit of a lonely life but seems reasonably content with that. Until an unexpected visit from her father forces her to look at her past and reconsider some of the choices she's made. Her father, a man of few words, doesn't normally pop over from Devon unexpectedly so even before his arrival she already instinctively knows that something is wrong. This is confirmed when he shows her a package that came in the mail, one covered in foreign stamps.
Inside of it is a photobook chronicling the seven summers Beth spent in Hungary with her mother. As Beth turns the pages of the Book of Summers, the reader is transported into another place and time. Hall's account of the Hungarian countryside and people is extremely vivid and she makes the hot and exotic Summers sound magical and inviting, while the lush descriptions of the peppered food and homemade lemonade make mouths water. Throughout the years Beth, or Erzsi as she was known back then, changes from and innocent child into a teenager with conflicted emotions as she is torn between her bland life in England and the colourful Summer holidays in Hungary.
The big twist near the end of the novel doesn't leave as much of an impact as is intended, but that's okay. For me, this wasn't a novel about secret and intrigue or about finding out why Beth hasn't spoken to her mother in all these years. On the contrary. It was a story of rediscovery and finding out what's significant in the here and now. Even if this means realising that perhaps some decisions made in the past were not the right ones. You can reminiscence on the past but you can only change the course of your life in the present.
I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading The Book of Summers, it really is an exceptional debut. Far from the frolicky chick-lit I was expecting, it is a gem of a novel which I am ever so glad came into my mail box for review purposes as I probably wouldn't have known about the title otherwise.
February 19, 2012
`Beth Lowe has been given a package. Inside is a letter informing her that her long estranged mother has dies, and a scrapbook Beth has never seen before. Entitled The Book of Summers, it`s stuffed with photographs and mementos compiled by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth spent in rural Hungary.
It was a time when she trod the tightrope between separated parents and two very different countries, her bewitching but imperfect Hungarian mother, and her gentle, reticent English father; the dazzling house of a Hungarian artist and an empty-feeling cottage in deepest Devon. And it was the time that came to the most brutal of ends the year Beth turned sixteen.
Since then, Beth hasn`t allowed herself to think about those days of her childhood. But the arrival of The Book of Summers brings the past tumbling back to the present; as vivid, painful and vital as ever`
Well, I have to put my cards on the table here, and say that when I received this book for review, my immediate thought was that it wasn`t really my type of read,so initially picked it up with some reluctance. How wrong can someone be? I have just eagerly finished it now, neglecting the family, and all but the most essential of tasks, as I was totally spellbound...what a wonderful, descriptive book, where even the most `ordinary` of actions is beautifully worded and is made to come alive.
Each summer Beth spent in Hungary (seven altogether), are wonderfully described, and you are struck throughout by the contrast between her all too brief stays there, and the rest of the year spent with her reserved father. I felt I came to know all the characters, but I was still caught out as to the reason it all fell apart for Beth, when she was sixteen.
I found it absorbing, and affecting, and as the book blurb itself says, it`s about the lies we tell, the truths that remain, and the things we must do to keep loving each other.
Wonderful read, I didn`t want to end- surely a sign of a great book!
[Edit Tags]
It was a time when she trod the tightrope between separated parents and two very different countries, her bewitching but imperfect Hungarian mother, and her gentle, reticent English father; the dazzling house of a Hungarian artist and an empty-feeling cottage in deepest Devon. And it was the time that came to the most brutal of ends the year Beth turned sixteen.
Since then, Beth hasn`t allowed herself to think about those days of her childhood. But the arrival of The Book of Summers brings the past tumbling back to the present; as vivid, painful and vital as ever`
Well, I have to put my cards on the table here, and say that when I received this book for review, my immediate thought was that it wasn`t really my type of read,so initially picked it up with some reluctance. How wrong can someone be? I have just eagerly finished it now, neglecting the family, and all but the most essential of tasks, as I was totally spellbound...what a wonderful, descriptive book, where even the most `ordinary` of actions is beautifully worded and is made to come alive.
Each summer Beth spent in Hungary (seven altogether), are wonderfully described, and you are struck throughout by the contrast between her all too brief stays there, and the rest of the year spent with her reserved father. I felt I came to know all the characters, but I was still caught out as to the reason it all fell apart for Beth, when she was sixteen.
I found it absorbing, and affecting, and as the book blurb itself says, it`s about the lies we tell, the truths that remain, and the things we must do to keep loving each other.
Wonderful read, I didn`t want to end- surely a sign of a great book!
[Edit Tags]
February 18, 2012
The Book of Summers
Emylia Hall
Reading a debut novel is sometimes like opening a new jar of coffee, an experience to be savoured, a promise of things to come.
The Book of Summers is Emylia Hall’s debut novel. The title gives little away other than a seasonal hint. But the book is a tale of growing up, coming of age, of wanting and getting and getting and not wanting.
It’s a colourful, vibrant narrative that contrasts a somewhat staid routine England with a Bohemian, natural Hungary. There are times when it seems that the writer is trying just that bit too hard to impress with imagery. There’s a simile too many here and there, the narrative would have worked as well without. But the story settles down into a more comfortable account of Beth and her seven summers.
I have to say that I did predict the event that caused the rift between Marika and Beth and where it would happen, Balaton. But that didn’t detract from a desire to see just how the characters dealt with the situation. But I felt that was too drawn out. And the sequence where ‘If things had been different’ precedes every paragraph becomes quite tedious because in a sense none of it needs to be said.
I liked the mirror prologue and epilogue where the same phrases and sentences were used, but with Marika in the prologue and Beth in the epilogue.
All in all a laudable effort and I would be happy to seek out more Of Emylia Hall’s future work. Genre? Not sure. Chick lit? Not really, it does go beyond that when it could so easily have stayed there.
Emylia Hall
Reading a debut novel is sometimes like opening a new jar of coffee, an experience to be savoured, a promise of things to come.
The Book of Summers is Emylia Hall’s debut novel. The title gives little away other than a seasonal hint. But the book is a tale of growing up, coming of age, of wanting and getting and getting and not wanting.
It’s a colourful, vibrant narrative that contrasts a somewhat staid routine England with a Bohemian, natural Hungary. There are times when it seems that the writer is trying just that bit too hard to impress with imagery. There’s a simile too many here and there, the narrative would have worked as well without. But the story settles down into a more comfortable account of Beth and her seven summers.
I have to say that I did predict the event that caused the rift between Marika and Beth and where it would happen, Balaton. But that didn’t detract from a desire to see just how the characters dealt with the situation. But I felt that was too drawn out. And the sequence where ‘If things had been different’ precedes every paragraph becomes quite tedious because in a sense none of it needs to be said.
I liked the mirror prologue and epilogue where the same phrases and sentences were used, but with Marika in the prologue and Beth in the epilogue.
All in all a laudable effort and I would be happy to seek out more Of Emylia Hall’s future work. Genre? Not sure. Chick lit? Not really, it does go beyond that when it could so easily have stayed there.
May 31, 2012
When Beth was just nine years old, she and her father left their mother, Marika in Hungary and returned to England. Marika told Beth that Hungary was her home.Beth was devasted. However, Beth was able to visit her mother every summer.Beth and Marika looked forward to these summers. They shared laughes, love, and heartache. This changed when during one summer, Beth learned a secret that her mother had been keeping from her. A secret that tore them apart forever.
The Book of Summers is Mrs. Hall's debut novel. I have to say after reading this book, I can not wait to see what Mrs. Hall has in story next. This book read more like Mrs. Hall's third or fourth book then her first. I started this book last night and about an hour and a half later I was finished. The Book of Summers reads like an old friend/journal then just a book. The Book of Summers is a must summer read!
I found Marika to be the star of this story. Her hippy ways and carefree living made me smile. I like that she encouraged Beth to act like a kid which included getting in trouble. Beth grew as the summers pasted. She enjoyed life more when she was vising her mother in Hungary. This is what I liked the most about younger Beth. The older Beth had forgotten about life and was kind of bitter. When Marika's secret was revealed, I could understand on one hand why Beth acted the way she did but on the other hand, I thought she over reacted. Mrs. Hall make Hungary a magical place. A place that I want to visit now after reading this book.
The Book of Summers is Mrs. Hall's debut novel. I have to say after reading this book, I can not wait to see what Mrs. Hall has in story next. This book read more like Mrs. Hall's third or fourth book then her first. I started this book last night and about an hour and a half later I was finished. The Book of Summers reads like an old friend/journal then just a book. The Book of Summers is a must summer read!
I found Marika to be the star of this story. Her hippy ways and carefree living made me smile. I like that she encouraged Beth to act like a kid which included getting in trouble. Beth grew as the summers pasted. She enjoyed life more when she was vising her mother in Hungary. This is what I liked the most about younger Beth. The older Beth had forgotten about life and was kind of bitter. When Marika's secret was revealed, I could understand on one hand why Beth acted the way she did but on the other hand, I thought she over reacted. Mrs. Hall make Hungary a magical place. A place that I want to visit now after reading this book.
February 16, 2012
I really enjoyed The Book of Summers. It's a beautifully written story that it's all too easy to get lost in. The beautiful landscapes described are easy to picture as are the characters. Such passion for life!! I can vividly imagine the places and paintings. The hot and dusty track in the stunning Hungarian countryside, to the wet and shining lanes of Devon. Wonderful! The twist in the story wasn't at all what I expected. Marika is an incredible character, easily pictured and easy to relate to. As is Beth/Erzsi. Safe to say I will be picking this one up to read again at a later date.
August 19, 2016
I absolutely loved this book. Long hot summers, luscious spicy Hungarian food and a deep family mystery.
April 25, 2022
[reading challenge: كتاب عنوانه يحمل أحد فصول السنة]
for people who find comfort in nostalgia and dwelling on days foregone (me)
for people who find comfort in nostalgia and dwelling on days foregone (me)
October 18, 2021
I was pleasantly surprised by this! I didn't expect it to be as good as it is?! The family dynamics are so interesting and I think the author did such a good job at staying within the main characters head but providing little glimpses at what the other characters aren't saying. This would make a rlly good book club book bc I can imagine a ton of different opinions on the parents.
I just think the ending was a little rushed! though I guess it leads onto a sequel ??
I just think the ending was a little rushed! though I guess it leads onto a sequel ??
March 18, 2023
What a lovely story with a surprising twist and bitter-sweet ending. Really enjoyed it!
February 26, 2012
Beth is half English and half Hungarian so has always felt torn between two cultures and two places. When she receives word that her estranged mother has died, Beth also receives a home-made scrapbook chronicling the childhood and teenage summers she spent in Hungary. Looking through the book brings everything flooding back and makes Beth face up to a secret from her past – as well as how she reacted to it.
The Book of Summers is a real page-turner which keeps you going until the secret from the past is revealed. As I was reading I found myself wondering what the secret was and coming up with several (as it turned out, false) possibilities. When it’s finally revealed, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting – as an avid reader of crime novels I was expecting something more fitting to that genre, so the real revelation became more shocking.
The conceit of describing a young woman’s life mainly by concentrating on the summers is a great one – it’s the non-routine things we all tend to remember about our pasts, so our fondest memories are generally of holidays rather than of everyday life. The descriptions of Beth’s first, tentative steps towards romance are also striking and again pull the reader in by reminding us what it was like to be that age and being entirely consumed by our latest crush.
Apart from the very brief prologue the book is narrated by Beth, so we see everything through her eyes and with her assumptions and prejudices. I’m not altogether sure I entirely like her - in the flashbacks to her younger days she has a stereotypical teenage self-centredness which she doesn’t fully appear to shake off even as an adult. I thought she was needlessly cruel to her father on several occasions which didn’t endear her to me either. Even when she finds out the truth in the novel’s revelation she reacts in a selfish way, and it’s not until she receives the book that she can face her past and the pain she has caused others as well as herself. And although there is resolution at the novel’s conclusion I was left with a feeling of sadness rather than of satisfaction, having come to the end of the road.
The Hungarian characters, Marika, Zoltan, Tamas et al, are written with a great joie de vivre and light up the page whenever they appear. By contrast the English characters do the opposite and seem to be as grey and drained as the landscape they live in. Beth spends much of the novel wondering which of her parents she is more like and where she fits in – this becomes particularly acute when the secret is revealed.
It took me a little while to get used to Emylia Hall’s writing style as I found the first chapter over-descriptive, with too great a reliance on similes. It seemed to be a little too puppyish and overly eager to please. I wasn’t aware of feeling this as the book progressed so either the style settled down or I just got used to it.
The cover of The Book of Summers made me expect a chick lit novel, but I don’t think it is one as it seems deeper and more considered. It would be a shame if the cover put anyone off reading it.
I enjoyed this debut novel and look forward to further books from Emylia Hall in future. It didn’t set my world on fire, but it definitely swept me up and took me out of myself for as long as I was reading it.
The Book of Summers is a real page-turner which keeps you going until the secret from the past is revealed. As I was reading I found myself wondering what the secret was and coming up with several (as it turned out, false) possibilities. When it’s finally revealed, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting – as an avid reader of crime novels I was expecting something more fitting to that genre, so the real revelation became more shocking.
The conceit of describing a young woman’s life mainly by concentrating on the summers is a great one – it’s the non-routine things we all tend to remember about our pasts, so our fondest memories are generally of holidays rather than of everyday life. The descriptions of Beth’s first, tentative steps towards romance are also striking and again pull the reader in by reminding us what it was like to be that age and being entirely consumed by our latest crush.
Apart from the very brief prologue the book is narrated by Beth, so we see everything through her eyes and with her assumptions and prejudices. I’m not altogether sure I entirely like her - in the flashbacks to her younger days she has a stereotypical teenage self-centredness which she doesn’t fully appear to shake off even as an adult. I thought she was needlessly cruel to her father on several occasions which didn’t endear her to me either. Even when she finds out the truth in the novel’s revelation she reacts in a selfish way, and it’s not until she receives the book that she can face her past and the pain she has caused others as well as herself. And although there is resolution at the novel’s conclusion I was left with a feeling of sadness rather than of satisfaction, having come to the end of the road.
The Hungarian characters, Marika, Zoltan, Tamas et al, are written with a great joie de vivre and light up the page whenever they appear. By contrast the English characters do the opposite and seem to be as grey and drained as the landscape they live in. Beth spends much of the novel wondering which of her parents she is more like and where she fits in – this becomes particularly acute when the secret is revealed.
It took me a little while to get used to Emylia Hall’s writing style as I found the first chapter over-descriptive, with too great a reliance on similes. It seemed to be a little too puppyish and overly eager to please. I wasn’t aware of feeling this as the book progressed so either the style settled down or I just got used to it.
The cover of The Book of Summers made me expect a chick lit novel, but I don’t think it is one as it seems deeper and more considered. It would be a shame if the cover put anyone off reading it.
I enjoyed this debut novel and look forward to further books from Emylia Hall in future. It didn’t set my world on fire, but it definitely swept me up and took me out of myself for as long as I was reading it.
May 31, 2012
Author: Emylia Hall
Published By: Mira: Original Edition
Age Recommend: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Raven Rating: 4
Blog Review For: Great Minds Think Aloud
Review:
"The Book of Summers" by Emylia Hall was indeed a wonderful book of Beth/Erszi trying to understand her past....her mothers family history...due to a unexpected parcel from Hungary. Now this is a very long descriptive read so be ready for the long read, however, if you can stay with this story line you will not be disappointed....going from present to past times over the countries..(Hungary, Devon, London). This author really makes you feel the places you are in...especially in Hungary.
Beth(Erzsi)Lowe is now living in Victoria Park, London and her father comes to visit and gives her a parcel (from her recently deceased mother)... that he had received at his home in Devon and this cause quite a stir because nothing was to be received from Hungary. Now why was that? However, Beth goes and opens the parcel discovering that it is "The Book of Summers" which was a scrapbook of seven past summers she had spent in Hungary with her mother. Now... Beth is remembering those summers and what had happen even the last one she had spent there...For this book will slowly reveal just what happened that Beth had forgotten her "7 summers in Hungary" and in the end it all come clear to the reader. Just how could a Mother let go of her child and put a country first....however, I was able to understand after the read of the outcome.
I really liked the way this author didn't let the cat out of the bag until almost the end of this wonderful story. If you can hang on you will find out what had caused this rift between Beth and her father. By going through this scrapbook will Beth be able to look at her life especially her teenage years differently and even understand why her family had done what was done? ...summer spent in Hungary and the secret why the summers stopped and Beth became estranged from her mother...with many twist and turns... soon letting us understand just what had happen. Now this is the part where I will say you must pick up this novel and read to find out just what has gone on.
I really enjoyed the characters... Beth(Erzsi), Marika( Mother), David(Dad), Aunt Jessica, Zoltan, Angelika, Balint, Tamas and Justin ...all making this a well written story.
"The Book of Summers" was a good read and well written..... definitely a novel to make you think. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a good fiction read of dreams of the teenager, problems and choices that we have made as adults with family our relationships....then this read is for you.
Published By: Mira: Original Edition
Age Recommend: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Raven Rating: 4
Blog Review For: Great Minds Think Aloud
Review:
"The Book of Summers" by Emylia Hall was indeed a wonderful book of Beth/Erszi trying to understand her past....her mothers family history...due to a unexpected parcel from Hungary. Now this is a very long descriptive read so be ready for the long read, however, if you can stay with this story line you will not be disappointed....going from present to past times over the countries..(Hungary, Devon, London). This author really makes you feel the places you are in...especially in Hungary.
Beth(Erzsi)Lowe is now living in Victoria Park, London and her father comes to visit and gives her a parcel (from her recently deceased mother)... that he had received at his home in Devon and this cause quite a stir because nothing was to be received from Hungary. Now why was that? However, Beth goes and opens the parcel discovering that it is "The Book of Summers" which was a scrapbook of seven past summers she had spent in Hungary with her mother. Now... Beth is remembering those summers and what had happen even the last one she had spent there...For this book will slowly reveal just what happened that Beth had forgotten her "7 summers in Hungary" and in the end it all come clear to the reader. Just how could a Mother let go of her child and put a country first....however, I was able to understand after the read of the outcome.
I really liked the way this author didn't let the cat out of the bag until almost the end of this wonderful story. If you can hang on you will find out what had caused this rift between Beth and her father. By going through this scrapbook will Beth be able to look at her life especially her teenage years differently and even understand why her family had done what was done? ...summer spent in Hungary and the secret why the summers stopped and Beth became estranged from her mother...with many twist and turns... soon letting us understand just what had happen. Now this is the part where I will say you must pick up this novel and read to find out just what has gone on.
I really enjoyed the characters... Beth(Erzsi), Marika( Mother), David(Dad), Aunt Jessica, Zoltan, Angelika, Balint, Tamas and Justin ...all making this a well written story.
"The Book of Summers" was a good read and well written..... definitely a novel to make you think. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a good fiction read of dreams of the teenager, problems and choices that we have made as adults with family our relationships....then this read is for you.
February 6, 2016
Gosto de livros que alternem linhas temporais, bem escritos e que contenham em si segredos importantes para o enredo, que fazem com que o leitor se entusiasme durante a leitura para perceber, afinal, que segredos são esses. Algumas das minhas autoras favoritas a escrever livros do género são Kate Morton ou Susanna Kearsley (curioso, só me lembro de mulheres) e, como são livros de que costumo gostar bastante, ando sempre à procura de novos autores dentro do género (a título de curiosidade, podem ver uma lista aqui). Este Álbum de Verão prometia ser um desses livros, mas acabou por ficar bastante aquém das expectativas.
A protagonista do livro é Beth Lowe, uma mulher na casa dos 30 anos que, através do seu pai, recebe uma encomenda oriunda da Hungria. Nela, está a notícia da morte da sua mãe, Marika, que não via há 14 anos; e está também um álbum de fotos, documentando cada um dos 7 verões que Beth passou na Hungria com a mãe, entre os seus 9 e 16 anos. O motivo pelo qual Beth deixou de ir à Hungria visitar a mãe e cortou qualquer contacto com ela é o segredo que funciona como motor da história.
E assim, voltando atrás no tempo, vamos acompanhando Beth nas suas férias de verão, na relação com a mãe, que Beth sempre trata por Marika, uma mulher imprevisível, que segue o seu coração. E nas semanas que Beth passa com a mãe, a jovem sente-se em casa e passa o resto do ano a ansiar pela chegada das férias de verão, também para ver Támas, o rapaz por quem se apaixona.
Ter demorado quase 2 semanas para ler um livro de 300 páginas não pode ser bom sinal, pois não? A verdade é que achei o livro aborrecido. Beth vai recordado os verões que passou na Hungria, mas nada parece acontecer. Basicamente, temos descrições da Natureza, passeios, paixonetas e pouco mais. Ao longo dos anos, Beth passa apenas 1-2 semanas na Hungria e o resto do tempo com o pai em Inglaterra. Mas pouco nos é dito sobre todo o resto do ano, e a relação de Beth com o pai é pouco desenvolvida. A revelação final foi inesperada, mas ainda assim não teve grande impacto em mim e tive algumas dificuldades em perceber o radical corte de relações.
Gostei da escrita de Emylia Hall, apesar de me ter parecido um pouco palavrosa amiúde. Mas foi só isso, porque a nível de história e personagens houve pouco que me cativasse.
A protagonista do livro é Beth Lowe, uma mulher na casa dos 30 anos que, através do seu pai, recebe uma encomenda oriunda da Hungria. Nela, está a notícia da morte da sua mãe, Marika, que não via há 14 anos; e está também um álbum de fotos, documentando cada um dos 7 verões que Beth passou na Hungria com a mãe, entre os seus 9 e 16 anos. O motivo pelo qual Beth deixou de ir à Hungria visitar a mãe e cortou qualquer contacto com ela é o segredo que funciona como motor da história.
E assim, voltando atrás no tempo, vamos acompanhando Beth nas suas férias de verão, na relação com a mãe, que Beth sempre trata por Marika, uma mulher imprevisível, que segue o seu coração. E nas semanas que Beth passa com a mãe, a jovem sente-se em casa e passa o resto do ano a ansiar pela chegada das férias de verão, também para ver Támas, o rapaz por quem se apaixona.
Ter demorado quase 2 semanas para ler um livro de 300 páginas não pode ser bom sinal, pois não? A verdade é que achei o livro aborrecido. Beth vai recordado os verões que passou na Hungria, mas nada parece acontecer. Basicamente, temos descrições da Natureza, passeios, paixonetas e pouco mais. Ao longo dos anos, Beth passa apenas 1-2 semanas na Hungria e o resto do tempo com o pai em Inglaterra. Mas pouco nos é dito sobre todo o resto do ano, e a relação de Beth com o pai é pouco desenvolvida. A revelação final foi inesperada, mas ainda assim não teve grande impacto em mim e tive algumas dificuldades em perceber o radical corte de relações.
Gostei da escrita de Emylia Hall, apesar de me ter parecido um pouco palavrosa amiúde. Mas foi só isso, porque a nível de história e personagens houve pouco que me cativasse.
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