Jennifer Weiner, the summer queen, returns with a post-lockdown emotional tale of a multi-generational family in THE SUMMER PLACE. Life is not always easy, full of drama, and sometimes messy, but it can be rewarding.

The author takes us to one of her favorite spots, the beautiful Cape Cod, where we meet a cast of characters where everyone gathers for a beautiful summer wedding.

EVERYONE HAS SECRETS! The what-ifs?

Sarah's stepdaughter, Ruby is getting married to Gabe. Sarah's mother Veronica wants to have the wedding at the Cape Cod home.

There are many emotions: Sarah is in a marriage and thinking of an old lover and a desire to be a pianist. Veronica, the novelist is facing something from the past. Sarah’s twin brother, Sam, is recovering from a terrible loss and more. Sarah's husband, Eli has a secret from the past which may come back to haunt him. Ruby is questioning her choices. Ronnie is dealing with her health and a love affair from the past. Lots of scandalous secrets.

With summer air, family, friends, the beach, beautiful homes, delicious food and wine, and lots of emotion, mothers and daughter stories—the author takes us on a roller coaster journey of family and the strong ties that bind.

Lyrical, heartwarming, blended with the master storyteller's own witty signature style makes THE SUMMER PLACE another excellent beach read and perfect for book clubs. Love the cover!

One of my favorite authors (I have read all of her books), and her passion shines through every page and character. I enjoyed the Author's note and her own personal journey coming out on the other side this past year. Well done! A beautiful love letter to the Cape and the power of home and family.

A special thank you to #NetGalley for a digital copy and #AtriaBooks for a beautiful print and hardcover copy to read, review, and enjoy!

Blog Review:
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Pub Date: May 10, 2022

This book is absolutely perfect for spring/start of summer! It's everything you hope for and Weiner delivers - family drama, multi generations, a wedding, secrets about to bubble over! I honestly was investing in all the characters and I loved how Weiner provided some backstory, without falling into a multi-timeline situation. I'll definitely recommend this book to all my friends - it''s perfect for the pool/beach/patio. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review early; as always, a truthful review!

I've really enjoyed the last two summer stories by Jennifer Weiner and was really looking forward to this one but unfortunately there was WAY too much family drama going on for me. If you love a multigenerational family story full of secrets and lies this story might be right up your alley. A big Jewish family comes together post-pandemic to celebrate a wedding at their Cape Cod beach house. Along the way many family secrets are revealed, relationships are tested and truths help set people free to be their most authentic selves. This book is perfect for fans of stories like Last summer at the Grand Hotel by Elyssa Friedland. Much thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Simon Schuster for my advance review copy.

When I saw the description for Jennifer Weiner’s The Summer Place (Atria), my eyes zeroed in on the word “pandemic,” and I thought, I was trying to avoid this. I wasn’t sure that my fragile psyche could handle reading about families struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic, no matter how fictional those families were.

Thankfully, the pandemic is not the villain of this story, even though it’s the villain in most of our eyes. It’s more like a catalyst, disrupting lives and forcing people together just enough to put their world views into relief, bring a different perspective to their lives, and in the case of these characters, highlight what they need to fix.

PANDEMIC FRAMES THE STORY, BUT ISN’T ITS SUBJECT

The present-day plot of The Summer Place begins in 2021 after the general public was able to get vaccinated, but COVID still had a fierce grip on the population. This multiple POV story is told mostly through the lens of Sarah Weinberg Danhauser — daughter, mother, stepmother, wife and, most recently, a soon-to-be mother-in-law. When we first meet her, she’s learning that her stepdaughter Ruby and Ruby’s boyfriend, Gabe, are engaged, and they want to have their wedding at Sarah’s mother’s house in Cape Cod. This engagement — probably spurred on by the fact that Gabe quarantined with Ruby and the Danhauser family — not only seems ill-timed but it feels like a portent. It dredges up long-buried negative emotions and forces to the surface old secrets for Sarah, her husband Eli (Ruby’s father), Sarah’s brother Sam, Rosa (Gabe’s mother), and Sarah’s mother, Ronnie.

The story explores much of these characters’ lives through flashbacks — with events happening years and, for some, decades before the pandemic. The conflicts unfolding in the present timeline are directly linked to what’s happened in the past, which Weiner reveals layer by layer through each character’s point of view. This storytelling style is similar to Weiner’s two previous novels in this series, Big Summer and That Summer. While some might find the novel slow-moving, I liked this approach. It brings an element of mystery to this character-driven, women’s fiction novel that wouldn’t have otherwise been there.

THE SHARED UNIVERSE OF WEINER’S SUMMER STANDALONES

Though Big Summer, That Summer and The Summer Place are standalone novels, all exist within the same Cape Cod world that Weiner has created, and story elements of one book seep into the others. This aspect made me want to re-read all the books; the richness of each of the stories made me feel like I was stepping into this complex, beautiful world. The interconnectedness of these novels makes their stories feel very serial and immerses readers further into these characters’ lives, as do Weiner’s vivid descriptions. Readers will enjoy this author’s approach to writing backstory, the way she “paints” a picture of a character’s world, adding more weight to the bind they’re currently in as the events of the story cause lives to collide.

By Part Three of the novel, readers are pretty sure where the characters stand as they all convene at Ronnie’s house for the wedding. This is when the action of the present-day plot takes you on that wild ride Weiner’s characters do so well, which keeps you reading — and guessing — to the end of the epilogue. Part Three is also where the author gets the most personal. Readers who have been following Weiner on social media in recent months will recognize a lot of her personal life infused within the poignant end to this rich, layered narrative.

Though your first intention may be to skip any novels that have the words “COVID pandemic” in the description, don’t skip this one. The Summer Place is an engaging and rich read that will only add to the guaranteed good vibes of your first beach vacation since quarantine.

Woah! Talk about family drama!! This has it oozing out the eyeballs! This dives into the heart of a family as they come together for the wedding of one of their members and the weekend turns out to be a time that none of them will ever forget. It’s full of secrets and lies, love and loss drama and laughter and so much heart.
I liked how this was set as we were all coming out of quarantine and learning to live a semi normal life again, rather than the several books that I’ve read & tried to read that we’re based still in lockdown. Quarantine tends to bring out the cracks in relationships, and this book peels back the layers of each person’s life to reveal a Pandora’s box of secrets that are all slowly brought to light. Past loves, family bonds and life changing events are revealed in tantalizing detail. This will be one not to miss this summer.
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

3.5 Stars. Following the COVID-19 lockdown, Sarah Danhauser’s twenty-two year old stepdaughter, Ruby, announces her engagement to her pandemic boyfriend. Ruby plans to get married at her grandmother Veronica’s house on Cape Cod that summer, so the family is thrown into planning. However, everyone in this family has deep-hidden secrets bound to come to light as the wedding quickly approaches.

This novel lends itself to Jennifer Weiner’s reliable lyrical writing, accompanied by vivid details and a picturesque Cape Cod backdrop for part of the novel. The majority of the novel is primarily focused on each of the several characters’ backstories. While this was necessary to the storyline due to the complexity of the characters’ pasts, it led to very little plot taking place in the present day. This book is a LOT of interconnected family drama, and for me personally it was a bit too much. However, the writing is beautiful, and if you love an abundance of family drama, I’d definitely pick up this summer read!

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for my gifted copy!

Jennifer Weiner has done it again, this is a twisty turning coming of age, realization of life, and following your heart novel about a family that intersects in more ways than I thought possible. There are so many secrets and betrayals in this book, love and lies, ups and downs it is the perfect summer/beach read.

The thing about this book that pulled me in and kept me there was the realness of the families, all families have their secrets, their skeletons in the closet and they all have moments of joy and moments of sorrow, now granted they don't all have a wedding coming up where the bride and groom may be related, but they do all have their own little quirks.

For me this is fun and flirty without being a standard romance, there's the family, there are careers, there are moments of existential crisis that you can put yourself into, for so much of this book I found myself thinking would I or wouldn't I, I can see both sides of almost every situation and that made it so fun to read.

I will admit I didn't see the situation with Ronnie coming and it broke my heart, even though she was a supporting player for parts of this book, she was my favorite character (aside from the house of course) her life, how her decisions set up her children and grand children, I was hooked from the first page to the last. and can't recommend this one enough.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A tale of our times: COVID 19 and the impact it has had on individuals and families. A young girl announces that she and her finance are getting married in three months and her step-grandmother has agreed to host the wedding at her fabulous house on Cape Cod. During the next three months problems that were personal and yet revealed themself to the family as a whole are covered. It covers the three generations as years of secrets have been kept for years. The author is adept at telling the story of this family but there isn’t really a true likable person but it is so real life. I do really like that one person is able to analyze her situation and be able to do the right thing. The lovely description of the house on Cape Cod will have you planning your summer vacation. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of this book; this is my honest review.

It wouldn't be summer without a beach read from Jennifer Weiner. The Summer Place is full of family drama and interesting twists and turns. Through the use of multiple viewpoints, each character is able to reveal secrets from his or her past and possible regrets about "the road not taken". Most readers can probably find some bit of themselves in one or more of the family members. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance copy to read and review.

I was provided an ARC of this book by @netgalley in exchange for my review.
I am a big @jenniferweinerwrites fan, and this one did not disappoint!
It centers around a disjointed family, a hurried wedding, and a beloved house. With her typical real life/messy characters, Weiner weaves a semi-Shakespearean tale of family, relationships, secrets, forgiveness, and learning to be loved as you are!
Sarah is surprised when her stepdaughter, Ruby, announces that she and her pandemic boyfriend will be getting married in three short months! Add onto that her husband, Eli, who has been acting strange throughout their quarantine and is drifting farther away as the wedding draws nearer. And, there's her brother, Sam, who has suffered a great loss, but also maybe, finally, finding himself. Don't forget, her mother, who is looking forward to one last family hurrah in the seaside house before she sells it (unbeknownst to everyone else). Throw them all in a bowl (or house) and stir in a few extra characters for added spice, and you've got yourself a drama filled time!
I really enjoyed this story and how we learned so much about the characters and how they became who they are. It was a great example of how we often don't know people, even the people we live with, and we all can be afraid to expose those parts of us that may be contradictory to our perceived role. I also enjoyed the character development and the ending of this story.
One possible difficulty for some is the number of characters, many of who got at least one chapter from their perspective! I struggle with names sometimes and with a few names similar (Rosa, Ruby) and one character who went by several names, I sometimes had to remind myself who people were. Although this didn't take away from the story for me, and I actually enjoyed getting different perspectives, I know some don't enjoy that type of writing style.
If you enjoy family drama, character growth, and a whole lot of secrets, you should definitely check this one out! And lucky for you, today is publication day! 🥳 So you can get it right away!

It wouldn’t be summer without a good Jennifer Weiner novel! I was super lucky to get an ARC of The Summer Place so that I could catapult myself into summer mode in the here and now! This book had all the right ingredients for a great summer read: interesting characters with juicy back stories and spicy secrets. Smart storylines with a beachy backdrop (Cape Cod). And also some major family drama. This book had so many mini-mysteries that kept me guessing that I almost got frustrated on the cusp of their reveal - just tell me already!! Everything unfolded eventually though and I really enjoyed the story!

Every spring/summer I know to expect soaring temperatures (I’m in Florida so hot and humid is the norm), an influx of tourists (also the norm), and a juicy new release from Jennifer Weiner. This year’s release, The Summer Place, brings a multi-generational story of family secrets that all (well, almost all) come to light as everyone gathers at the matriarch’s Cape Cod beach house for a wedding.

The Summer Place is told from multiple points of view, each character with their own background, their own struggles, and bringing their own secrets to the family gathering. Among them are:

Sarah – An almost-forty mother and stepmother, whose husband has become increasingly distant. As she grapples with the what-if’s in her life, she’s also questioning the state of her marriage.

Eli – Sarah’s husband, who moved past his first wife walking out on him and their young daughter more than twenty years ago. Now a past indiscretion threatens to upset the life he has built with Sarah.

Ruby – Eli’s daughter who, at twenty-two has always known exactly what she wanted and worked toward it with single-minded determination. With her wedding date drawing nearer, she finds that for the first time in her life she’s not quite so certain of what she wants.

Veronica (Ronnie) – Happy to host the wedding of her step-granddaughter, Ronnie is thrilled for a large family gathering at her beloved Cape Cod home before putting the house on the market.

Sam – Sarah's twin brother has always felt something was missing. Now widowed and raising his young stepson on the West coast, Sam begins to question who he is and what he wants – and hopes for answers when he returns home to Cape Cod for his niece’s wedding.

Admittedly, this did start out a bit slow for me. Weiner delved into the background of each character, establishing their history and their motivations. This went a long way toward character development, but also felt as though there wasn’t a lot of forward momentum to the story. Thankfully, the second half picked up considerably and the more I read the less I wanted to put the book down. By the end I was turning the pages in a blur, desperate to see how it would all play out.

Weiner is a longtime favorite and she has a true gift at creating fully-rounded, complex, and flawed characters. In many ways, their lives and their situations are all too real and relatable. The Summer Place has clever twists and coincidences, but at its heart is a story about the bonds of family, in all its messy glory.

Thank you to Atria Books for the advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

I can’t even be shocked that I loved a book written by Jennifer Weiner because she has yet to let me down!!⁣
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This one started off slow. I felt like the first few chapters were just a lot of background with very minimal progression in the actual plot. It wasn’t until around 30% that the book started to pick up and I got sucked right in. It is also set during 2020/2021 covid lockdowns and to me it just felt too soon to enjoy a story about this time. ⁣
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However - Jennifer Weiner NEVER disappoints with the wild plot twists and crazy details. I have never read a book by her where I knew where the story was going or guessed what would happen. This one is no exception! Every member of the family had something going on and while it can be hard at times to follow, I love the way the author writes these stories and backgrounds that just suck you right in. I also love the way Jennifer incorporated pieces of her other books into this one - you don’t have to have read them to read this book of course, but for those who have, there are so many little Easter eggs! ⁣
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The Summer Place is yet another amazing summer read that I highly recommend!

The Summer Place takes the family back to Cape Cod for a wedding. There are three generations and each will tell us their story. Some have secrets from when they were young and after the pandemic, they are going to be facing what they thought had been well hidden.
It is the family journey, why they did the things they did, what happened, and how it is today. The pandemic changed many things and many people, and I think this story puts a spotlight on it.
I received an ARC from Atria Books through NetGalley.

Jennifer Weiner does not disappoint with this modern/end of pandemic family story. The summer house is in ways the main character, the steady one. An excellent summer (or anytime read). Made me think a lot about being a woman, how roles have changed, etc.

Sarah and Eli are parents to Dexter 8, and Miles, 7. Ruby, 22, is Eli’s daughter from a previous marriage. Since the pandemic, Sarah has felt hemmed in as Eli, a periodontist, is doing telamedicine and teaching classes on line. The boys are being schooled at home online. Ruby and her boyfriend, Gabe, have moved in with them as well. Thank goodness, they have a large 4-story home. Sarah’s mother, Veronica, gave them the money for it.

Veronica was once a well-known author, but after writing just 2 books, she gave it up. Her husband, Lee, has passed away and she lives in a large home in Cape Cod.

Ruby and Gabe have just announced that they want to get married and Veronica has offered the Cape Cod home as the wedding venue. Ruby’s mother was not cut out to be a mother and simply walked out when Ruby was just a baby.

Sarah is a professor of English and a renowned pianist. The lockdown has really been trying for her and she yearns for some peace and quiet.

Oh my goodness, what a book. This is all about self-discovery and sharing of long-kept secrets. I loved the characters. While everyone is flawed in some way, the book just shows that all of us are redeemable. This is a book about family and how everyone sticks together. Don’t miss it.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I am a Jennifer Weiner fan, but “The Summer Place” was not my favorite. It’s not a bad book, but it was too long, had too many characters, and could’ve ended an hour earlier than it did. The story seemed to drag a bit and it started to read like a soap opera at times. 3 stars ⭐️. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy for review.
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The Summer Place by Jannifer Weiner is a good beach read. Almost every aspect of relationships was covered so there's something for everyone to relate to.

I can always count on Jennifer Weiner to bring the family drama with her characters, and THE SUMMER PLACE definitely had its share! From family secrets and betrayals to discovering just how annoying a family member can be during a pandemic (totally relatable right?!)

I have only read a few Covid-19 pandemic/post-pandemic stories, but realized that I’m not quite ready to revisit that storyline quite yet.

Sarah Danhauser is a stepmom in her forties, to college student Ruby who ends up moving back home with her fiancé during the pandemic. Each chapter features a different character and family member, from Sarah, her husband Eli, twin brother Sam, and her Mother Ronnie.

I think my favorite part of the story was connected to the family home and Cape Cod setting.

*many thanks to Atria for the gifted copy for review

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free ebook copy of this title in exchange for my review.

Jennifer Weiner is one of my favorite authors. Her books seem to be more than just 'women's fiction' to me, more real to life characters with real situations. This book is just that. When I read the summary, I did worry about a book referring to the pandemic so soon, but I feel that Weiner did a good job of bringing some of the real world into her story, but not the typical endless complaints and problems. The story of Ruby and her boyfriend feels like it won't feel too dated 20 years from now.

Overall, I'm not a fan of a long list of characters and POV's or time lines in a book - especially when I am reading an ebook, because it is difficult to keep track of everyone or flip back to re-read a section. It did feel as though there was a long list of characters in this story, but overall I enjoyed the story and could keep track of everyone fairly well. I could see myself re-reading this when the print is released - or listening to the audio version.

Talk of the pandemic and of everyone's struggles through it all are still a bit fresh. It might be a bit 'too soon' for that in a book, but you also can't just ignore something that has affected all our lives. So I feel that this story was a good balance of pandemic affects on our lives and not wanting to talk about the pandemic.

I'm a huge fan of Weiner's and will always read her books. I'm already looking forward to the next book.