Summer, 1976

by David Auburn, Laura Linney (Narrator), Jessica Hecht (Narrator)

Starring four-time Emmy Award winner and Academy Award nominee Laura Linney and Tony Award nominee Jessica Hecht, Summer, 1976 is an intimate and insightful exploration of friendship, ambition, and the struggle for independence.

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Auburn, this critically acclaimed Broadway hit chronicles the lives of two young mothers as they forge an unlikely bond during the summer of America’s Bicentennial. As the days heat up, they navigate a tumultuous relationship and discover how friendships define us, divide us, and permanently alter our sense of ourselves.

A fully immersive listening experience and a must-hear for theater enthusiasts everywhere, Summer, 1976 is a deeply moving portrayal of the small moments that can change the course of our lives.

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, Plays, Novella, Historical Fiction, Short Stories, Contemporary

2 pages, Audiobook

Published December 7, 2023

About the author

David Auburn is an American playwright, screenwriter, and theatre director. He is best known for his 2000 play Proof, which won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Reviews

[Nina (ninjasbooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly how a short story should be. We follow to mums who meet, and even if that doesn’t sound especially exciting, it was. The story alternates between their POVs rapidly. We see how they instantly dislike each other in the beginning, and it’s really fun to hear what they think after interactions. We see how their relationship develop and again we follow it in real time. Underneath the witty dialogues lies the need to belong and be understood. The story nicely explores this and I ate it up!

[Taury · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summer 1976 by David Auburn is an odd little novella. Takes place in 1976 but honestly could have take place at anytime or place. No connect with me at all

[Krystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nostalgic tale of friendship, Summer, 1976, is a short audiobook that grabbed my attention. I felt transported to a simpler time.

The premise of following a friendship between two moms is exceptional. So often when mothers are main characters families, husbands, or children become the main focus. It was interesting to see their friendship being discussed in the spotlight by the characters themselves.

Two moms, whose five year old daughters are friends, forge a shaky friendship in the beginning from forced proximity thanks to their children, but they quickly become unlikely kindred spirits. These women are opposites and it causes a rocky start, but also makes for genuine laughs.

Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht brought these characters to life through their stunning narration. 👏🏻 They did an outstanding job, it took the story to another level.

I found this to be a fantastic read: emotional, engaging, humorous, and relatable.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ✨
Thanks to my GR friends Nina & Tina who recommended this Audible short story. It’s a Broadway play that left my heart aching for my best friend and for my seasonal friends whom I had known throughout my life.

The story is bittersweet yet I believe we have all experienced the powerful connections we make that help us endure a season or several years with joy, laughter, sorrow & loss.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

So well done! Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht are simply amazing!

[Hamed Manoochehri · Rating 5 out of 5]

اگه یه روز ته عمرم مونده باشه باید برم لارا لینی و جسیکا هکت رو در حال اجرای این نمایش ببینم.
تجربه شنیداری ای که این «کتاب» ارائه میده قابل تکرار نیست.
اگه نتونستین آدیوبوکشو پیدا کنین خبرم کنید که آدرسشو بدم.
لارا لینی، لارا لینی، لارا لینی، لارا لینی، لارا لینی، لارا لینی، لارا لینی، لارا لینی، لارا لینی، امکان نداره من تو از یه اسپیشیز باشیم.

[Miranda Perez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kind of sad and very honest. The way life plays out. The good moments you have with people that turn into great friends after a rough start then it just fades away..

[SueCanaan · Rating 1 out of 5]

At least it was short 😐

[Carmen Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In some way, haven't we all experienced a similar friendship? The meeting, the figuring it out, tugs and pulls. If we're lucky a click, a bond between kindred spirits. A connection based on actual shared moments, shared dreams, hopes...but will it survive?

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent narration/performance.

Story was okay. Didn’t wow me or seem very memorable.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book packed a punch. For most of it, I’ll say 2/3rds, I was like alright, this is just a cute little short story of two mom’s who fell into a friendship because of their kids. Have some ups and downs, but who doesn’t? Suddenly in the last bit and upon finishing I’m sitting here reminiscing about similar friendships and how life just moves on. You move on. And when you see them again, you miss them and part of you wishes they were still in your life, but you just aren’t. They aren’t in yours and you aren’t in theirs. And it hurts, but it’s life. Anyway, the last bit, which required the build-up of the first part, is what got me to rate this 5 stars. I know I give them liberally because I love books and this one met my rule, it made me think about my life and a little bit emotional.

[Miz Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this. Great story. Relatable with twists. Fabulous narration.

[julieishjulie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick but thoughtful listen. The narrators do an incredible job of conveying the friendship between the characters. I found myself longing for more. It's so well done that even with the short run time, I could feel their world and identify with their journeys

[John David Bull · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fairly good story and I just wasn’t big on the finale. Maybe one more chapter to tape up loose ends.

[BigBougieBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this story was a little sad.

[Nicole Colucci & Doctor Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

The premise of following a friendship between two moms is exceptional. So often when mothers are main characters families, husbands, or children become the main focus. It was interesting to see their friendship being discussed in the spotlight by the characters themselves. Two moms, whose five year old daughters are friends, forge a shaky friendship in the beginning from forced proximity thanks to their children, but they quickly become unlikely kindred spirits. These women are opposites and it causes a rocky start, but also makes for genuine laughs.

[Sandi G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, depressing and brilliantly narrated audio-novella chronicling the evolution of a friendship between two young mothers. Should it have been fleshed out into a full length novel? I don’t know. Some friendships are only novella worthy, full of unrealized potential.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The timing of narrators Linney and Hecht is perfection.

[Sarah Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A man writing the friendship between 2 women. Eye roll.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to Summer, 1976 on Audible. The narrators were awesome and played off of each seemingly effortlessly. I didn’t get the ending I wanted…no neatly wrapped package with a bow on top for this one. Being a play, it’s a super short, lightning fast listen that has me thinking about short lived/chance encounter friendships, reunions, what happens in between, and after. If you’re into theater, I highly recommend you check it out.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this!
It's basically an audio theater/radio play about female friendship, missed opportunities, and the sacrifices one makes for motherhood, for propriety, for what one thinks is right.
Narrated by powerhouses Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht, this is a funny, engaging, and overall very entertaining story, elevated by the performances and the overall writing by David Auburn ("Proof").

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an intriguing story. It really focused on that grand scope of meeting someone you connect with but with life pushing you another direction. It showed that eventual disconnect. That loss of friendship when both friends really just wanted to be together. It's a sad but enlightening story. Well worth the read.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two women come together during a summer because of their daughters. Dreams and life experiences are shared. There are are two POV. And the story fast tracks the reader through time in the end to see the women’s and their daughters lives years later. Overall, a good story with great narration.

[Faline Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this audio book and the actors did great. They did so good.

This book was sweet. Kinda of like a bittersweet decades long lost love, love story, but for two best friends. I enjoyed it.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay short story, but painfully over-acted by Laura Linney. So ridiculously dramatic. My husband kept saying, “Lots of yelling in this book.”

[Wendi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful story about chance friendships that come into your life for a short time and change everything.

[Sundria (Sundi) McCormick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting story. LOVED the narration. Laura Linney is the best.

[Antoniette · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up for the narration.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick listen that I finished while folding laundry. It is the summer of 1976 and single mom, Diane, and stay at home mom, Alice, forge an unlikely friendship when their 5 year old daughters, Gretchen and Holly, become friends. Diane is an artist who teaches part time at the university where Alice’s husband, Doug, is a professor. Alice is a hippy who smokes weed that she gets from Doug’s student, who they hired to paint their house. It is a summer of changes, especially for Alice, when Doug admits that he has feelings for the boy he hired to do the house painting. Diane wants to protect Alice and Holly, even going so far as to suggest that they move away together with the girls, but Alice wants to try to make her marriage work for the sake of her daughter. They drift apart, Alice’s marriage predictably ends in divorce, and Diane and Gretchen move away. They exchange Christmas cards for awhile but eventually even that stops. The 2 women see each other again 20 years or so later in NYC where Diane is attending an art show and Alice is visiting Holly, who is finishing her medical residency, and her husband and baby grandson. Diane says that Gretchen is in a rough patch without elaborating on the string of broken relationships and substance abuse that has caused her to move back in with her mother. Although the 2 women vow to keep in touch, they know that they won’t. A bittersweet story of friendship.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This play-turned-Audible experience was a quick and easy listen. I adore Laura Linney, I just think she maintained a stage-worthy performance that felt over-acted while her co-star was reading the whole thing for the first time when they started recording.
The story is a worthy one- an exploration of how adult women make friends, then maintain those friendships as time, kids, spouses and needs advance through the years.
The fact that it was set in 1976 when expectations for women were vastly different made some of these two women’s challenges even more sympathetic.
My only other annoyance (spoiler): the women have 5 year olds in 1976… but 20 years later they’re using cell phones to store numbers (no, that wasn’t happening in 1996) and one of the now grown daughters already has a stereotypical millennial mom attitude about daycare and schedules?
I feel like there’s a bit of poetic license regarding the passage of time and social norms that was hard to ignore and caused me to get lost a couple of times.