The Lost Summer

by Tom Milton

After her sophomore year of college Brigid McBride spends the summer with her best friend Laura Hughes, living in New York City and demonstrating against the war in Vietnam. It’s the summer of 1968, a summer of love and a summer of violence when the nation is divided on the issue of the war and a new generation is rebelling against the order imposed by the previous generation, engaging in actions against the war and for civil rights, women’s rights, and protecting the environment. Brigid and Laura, who are students in the nursing program at St. Catherine College in Yonkers, are sharing an apartment in the East Village with Kieran O’Donnell, a Jesuit seminarian who is planning an action against the draft board to stop it from sending mostly poor young men to fight in a war that he believes is a crime against humanity. Brigid is in love with him, and Laura is in love with a conscientious objector who fled to Canada to escape the draft. The girls develop a close relationship, and they feel they are accomplishing something by giving their message of love and peace to the thousands of people they encounter at tourist attractions in the city. But when they learn about Kieran’s plan, which would involve the use of violence and would therefore violate the principles that support their position against the war, they oppose him, and unable to resolve her differences with him, Laura departs to join her boyfriend in Canada while Brigid remains at the apartment in the hope of getting Kieran to abandon his plan and to love her as she loves him.

246 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 13, 2021

About the author

I have been writing all my life, and sixtteen years ago I started getting my novels published. Since then I have had twenty-two novels published: No Way to Peace, The Admiral’s Daughter, All the Flowers, Infamy, A Shower of Roses, Sara's Laughter, The Golden Door, Outside the Gate, Leave of Absence, Invisible Wounds, Orphans of War, The Silver Locket, Eden Valley, The Godmother, The Last Resort, The Lineman, The Lost Summer, Milos and Amira, A Contrite Heart, Blind in Granada, and A Residue of Hope.

I write novels not only to entertain but also to bring a deeper understanding of how the major events of our time challenge our values. In their pursuit of lofty goals, my protagonists encounter situations that expose their inner conflicts and test their commitments. My books appeal to educated readers of serious fiction and are popular with reading groups. They all have book discussion guides that include an introduction, a conversation with the author, and questions for discussion.

My first career was in journalism with the Wall Street Journal, after which I served in the army during the Vietnam War. Then I joined a large international bank and worked overseas, initially as an economic and political analyst, applying skills I learned in journalism and the military. I spent the next thirty years living and working in foreign countries, which has given me settings for my novels (Buenos Aires, Madrid, London, Santo Domingo, and so on).

For further information on my novels, please visit my website at http://tomilton.com.

Publisher: Nepperhan Press, PO Box 1448, Yonkers, NY 10702, nepperhan.com