Mary Flinn

Not sure where I got this copy from but glad I did since I really liked it. 3.5 stars.

Picture the Summer of 1920s, at a dance pavilion in NC, called Lumina and what you see is young people getting dressed up as flappers, dancing the Charleston, and having a wonderful time on Saturday nights dancing with their friends. Reminds of me of Atlantic City which they refer to also. How I would have loved to be there and lived this life.

Sylvie and Kip are siblings who are in love with siblings of another class -- Clayton & Catherine. Catherine was the ultimate girl who a rich girl who dressed like it too. Clayton was a real jerk and Sylvie thought she was in love with him. Sylvie had her own friends and Kip had his too and they were always together which was a wonderful way to spend a Summer before college started for Sylvie and Kip going back after working in a garage for the Summer.

It alternates in chapters to the present and AB (Sylvie's daughter), Bernard (her past boyfriend I think) and Elle and Nate their neighbors, who take turn reading a book written by Kip's friend from college.

A wonderful book.… (mais)

This is a novel that deals with every day people living everyday lives. Cherie, a high school English teacher, is looking forward to retirement, when her husband loses his job. Her oldest daughter, Hope, breaks up with her boyfriend and moves home. Then, her other daughter (who is graduating from college) arrives home – all excited about being engaged and ready to plan a big wedding. Throw in an estranged mother-in-law and needless to say, Cherie’s life is not going as she had planned. Her empty nest is now full – and her dream of retirement will have to wait.
The story is told from alternating perspectives – between Cherie and Hope. By doing this, the author has made the characters very real to the reader. You really feel that you know the entire family very well. You laugh with them – and you cry with them. It is truly a story about real life. I was lucky enough to win this book through a Goodreads Giveaway – and wish I had read it sooner!… (mais)