Wow. Harris said that the 2015 shooting at Emanuel AME church was the inspiration for this novel, because survivors and family members came to court to inform the shooter that they forgave him.
So this is a novel about forgiveness.
Sara Lancaster was 18 years old when she was raped at a Savannah party by Daniel Wyler, a young man from a very wealthy family. Sara tells the truth in court, and despite the efforts of the Wyler lawyers, Daniel is found guilty and sentenced to prison. After Sara discovers that she's pregnant, she leaves town for Maine, which has laws that prevent a rapist from seeking custody of a child. Her only thought is to protect Alana, her beautiful daughter, from the Wylers. But then Sara's father becomes seriously ill, and she and Alana return to Savannah. Many things have changed in the 8 years she's been gone, and she's still trying to keep the Wylers from learning about Alana. But then she meets Jacob, Daniel's twin brother, and learns that Daniel is about to be released from prison, and that he is dying.
The writing is beautiful, and the characters are not just believable, but seem to transcend the pages. I was sold from the author’s note at the beginning of the book, in which she suggests that the rape may be triggering for some readers, and she urges them to leave the story if the need to, in order to feel safe.

A wonderful debut novel. I loved this book about forgiveness. Some hard topics but well worth it. Flew through it.

Sara Lancaster left Savannah, Georgia years ago vowing to never return. Her father is really sick and she is called home for what she thinks is heart issues but turns out to be a problem with his brain. Her dad does not have much time. Sara’s daughter Alana is a brilliant girl. Sara was sexually assaulted and the person went to prison. A great guy shows up and wants to tutor Alana and it turns out to be the brother of the guy who assaulted Sara. They begin to form a relationship. This book deals with family tragedy and that good things can come from bad things. A definite must read. This author is amazing.

3.5
A story that turns an awful event into an opportunity of forgiveness and compassion.

It started 9 years ago in Savannah when Sarah was raped. The assailant was put in prison but there was backlash in the community towards Sarah. She left intending never to come back. But there's more to the story, Sarah became pregnant. Under difficult circumstances, Sarah returns to her hometown, with Alana, her daughter in tow. She is concerned what may happen.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, but as it continued it started to feel overworked. There were a number of plot points that were over the top, a LOT was going on. The one that bugged me the most was Sarah's dad only ever spoke in poems. Like the whole book, his whole life. It was a little extreme. There was more than one major illness involved in a couple of the characters. A big accident happens. A child prodigy was in the making to solve the worlds most difficult unsolved math problem. It was just too much to a point that it was unbelievable. On top of these extreme plot points the main crux of the story was a story of forgiveness. I loved this aspect of the book, but it felt a bit insincere by the end because of all of the other drama. My attention continued to be pulled in all of the directions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advance e-copy of this book.

A novel of forgiveness. Sara has raised her eight year old daughter Alana as a single mom in a tiny town in Maine but now she's home in Savannah because her father is ill. Alana is brilliant- a STEM sort of genius and are her father and uncle, the people Sara is avoiding. David assaulted Sara and changed their lives, as well as the lives of his family most especially his brother Daniel, now known as Jacob. A chance meeting at a science museum and later when he visits Sara's father's bookstore. pulls Sara and Jacob together, at first to help Alana but then....There's some melodrama here- David is in prison and dying of leukemia while Sara's dad could die at any moment. And then there's the fact that Sara's father speaks only in poetry, which I suspect will annoy some readers but which I liked. For one thing, it makes you slow down to appreciate the poem and it opens you to thinking a bit differently. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A very good, emotional read.

Eight years ago, Sara Lancaster was sexually assaulted by a scion of a well-connected and wealthy Savannah family. She fled her home and began living a life as a poet in coastal Maine with her genius daughter. But now her father, a bookstore owner, is ailing and summoning her home. Although fearful and desperate to keep her daughter’s existence a secret from the powerful Wyler family, Sara has always known this time would come. What Sara didn’t anticipate was meeting the twin brother of the man who assaulted her. What Sara didn’t anticipate was getting in touch with feelings and emotions so long held back inside her. What Sara didn’t anticipate was the support from those around her and tapping into the power of forgiveness. This is a novel of character, hope, and redemption. Highly recommended. A debut book that augers well for Terah Shelton Harris. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This is a dual point of view story and it was absolutely heartbreaking. There were heavy themes through out so be prepared for possible triggers. The writing was really good but I ultimately had to reduce my rating because of how sad the story elements were. Some triggers to be aware of may include rape, pregnancy, medical complications, vehicular accident, suicide references, and death of a family member

Sara, raped as a teen and having given birth to a daughter as a result, must come back home to Savannah, to her family (and the rapist’s), when her father falls gravely ill. She’s spent eight years hiding her daughter away, wanting to protect her from the truth and his wealthy family.

As coming home so often does, things you’ve wanted to hide have a way of coming to light. And no matter how hard she’s tried, when she encounters her rapist’s twin brother, she’s faced with a reality she’s wanted to avoid.

The aftermath of a sexual assault may be triggering for some readers. However, Terah Shelton Harris writes so beautifully and the tragedy becomes a lesson in forgiveness. It’s a story that will undoubtedly spark conversation and open some hearts.

This debut novel is a stunning mix of poetry and prose, and I can’t wait to read what Harris brings next.


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

“Trauma changes you, hardens you, leaves its scars.”
I have been waiting for a book that I can’t put down, that would take my breath away, One Summer in Savannah is it.
A woman wronged viciously, in turn protects the outcome of that savagery with all she has. Running, hiding, then finally fighting and trusting someone other than herself takes a lot of work.
Don’t let the cover fool you, this is not a trivial piece. (Sorry, a better cover is needed please!) Harris’ novel is heavy then light, with poetry, astrophysics, mathematics and genius, rape, victim shaming, fear and forgiveness, One Summer in Savannah gives you all the feels, in so many ways.
Wholly unique in its plot and delivery, artfully executed and heartbreakingly real, I was not expecting the breadth of this story and that made it all the better.

A woman who was raped and became pregnant as a teen returns to Savannah when she finds out her father is dying. She has spent the 8 years of her daughter's life keeping her a secret from the rapist's (who is in prison) family. There is an uncomfortable love story here and also a story about forgiveness but I just couldn't fully buy into the whole situation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for a review.

In the political environment we are in, this book will get people talking and thinking, and then talking again. There are two narrators, the first is Sara who is raped as a teen by Daniel and then finds out she is pregnant and runs away from her hometown of Savannah to avoid the rapist’s powerful (and brilliant) family discovering her daughter’s existence. The second narrator is Jacob (fka David) who is the rapist’s identical twin brother who also escapes the town because he doesn’t want to be associated with his family. After 8 years they both return, Sara’s father and Jacob’s brother are both dying.

Then there is Alana, the gifted genius of a child who is the result of the rape and eerily resembled Jacob and Daniel’s dead sister.

Jacob comes back to Sara’s family for forgiveness and instantly bonds with Alana while Sara slowly grows to trust and love him. It’s a story of forgiveness and how deep family bonds can go.

In the end while I did really enjoy the novel, there are a few holes that left me from being completely engrossed in the book – for example how can a woman fall in love with someone who looks exactly like her rapist? I also just could not get past the one-dimensional character of Birdie who is the mother of Daniel and Jacob – she didn’t ring true to me. Also, I couldn’t get into the father character who spoke only in poetry (and I enjoy poetry). Additionally I felt that there were some issues that the author was trying to tackle that just didn’t go deep enough for me. Because of these and a few more, this remained a bit superficial for me and therefore it’s a 3.5 star review.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel

This book was as good as I’d hoped it would be. I the characters were well developed and the prose well written.
I loved reading the poetry and how the author used it as one of the character’s way of communicating.
A satisfactory ending, too.

This will be a divisive book but one that makes for great conversation. The main character Sarah is raped as a teen. Her assailant is jailed and she ends up giving birth to his daughter. The daughter turns out to be an incredible genius and when her mom returns to her hometown to tend to her ailing father, she and her daughter form a friendship with her rapists twin brother: whew. Yup. It’s a whopper. The story brings up a lot but the theme of forgiveness is a main centerpiece. And it definitely got me thinking about who and what I would forgive. The writing itself isn’t exactly for me in that I didn’t feel it dove deeply enough into the characters and I felt a bit at arms length. however as this was a debut I’m really impressed and would def pick up this authors next book: if you liked Christine pride/jo Piazza last book I think you’d also like this one.

In One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris, Sara Lancaster returns to Savannah, Georgia, after eight years living in Maine where only her family knew she delivered a baby girl, the result of rape. This Fourth of July offering tells the tale of family, redemption, and unconditional love as Sara faces her fear of Savannah to be with her dying father, a man who speaks only in poems.

Hoping to dodge her child Alana’s paternal family, Sara hides her as best she can as she cares for her father and helps out in his bookstore. Her rapist Daniel Wyler went to trial and is near the end of serving his 10-year sentence. He has a twin named Jacob who has been helping Sara’s father by suggesting updates to the bookstore. In return, Jacob has been receiving poetry lessons from Sara’s father Hosea.

When Jacob enters the bookstore, he recognizes that Alana is part of his family: she looks and acts exactly like his late sister. At first unsure of Jacob’s motives, Sara agrees to let him work with Alana, a mathematical wizard, as long as he does not reveal to his brother and his mother that a child resulted from the assault.

How will Jacob keep his promise to make Alana a secret from his brother whose life is now complicated by cancer and from his mother who worked tirelessly to shame Sara as a whore during the trial? How can Sara make a life for herself in a town that created so much gossip about her when she left Savannah? What will it take for her to protect herself from the rich and influential Wylers who might seek custody of Alana?

This is the first novel by Terah Shelton Harris, a librarian and freelance writer. Her work has appeared in magazines including Catapult, Women’s Health, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Backpacker, and Minority Nurse. Originally from Illinois, she lives in Alabama.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting June 20, 2023.

I would like to thank Sourcebooks Landmark, an imprint of Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

3.5 Stars

One Summer in Savannah is a daring debut release by Terah Shelton Harris. Daring because she tackles the sensitive topic of what it means to be a rape survivor and the limits of forgiveness, and she takes risk in her writing by adding poetry as dialogue. I truly appreciate the risks she took in writing this novel, but unfortunately, it didn’t land well with me.

Sara was raped at the age of 18 and became pregnant from the rape. She considered ending the pregnancy, but couldn’t go through with it, so she moved far away from her hometown to give birth and raise her child in complete anonymity. Eight years later, when her father becomes terminally ill, she must return to her hometown. When she learns her father has a brain aneurysm that could burst any day, she decides to stay and spend what little time she may have left with him.

Sara’s daughter Alana is an 8-year-old genius. Her father and his twin brother were both geniuses and Alana takes after them in her intellect but looks like the spitting image of their sister Naomi. Alana’s father Daniel, who is dying from cancer, is in jail for the rape of Sara, but his twin brother David, who now goes by Jacob, has returned to town to try to repair his broken familial relationships. One day in the local museum Jacob runs into Alana who reminds him of his sister and demonstrates her genius by telling him one of the math exhibits is incorrect.

Ultimately Jacob learns that Alana is his niece and swears to keep it a secret from Daniel and his bitter mother Birdie. Sara allows Jacob to tutor Alana so she can flourish in her studies. Jacob tries to act as a balancing force for Alana and also let her be a kid and have kid experiences like going to the beach. Not so surprisingly, Jacob falls for Sara. But, I was completely surprised that Sara would reciprocate his affection and the two end up in a passionate intimate relationship.

This is where the story ultimately fell apart for me. It was difficult enough to believe that Sara would let Jacob, the identical twin of her rapist, tutor her daughter. But it was a bridge too far to believe she would end up in an intimate, romantic relationship with him.

The other area of the story that didn’t work for me was that Sara’s father Hosea only spoke in poetry. I didn’t find it endearing or quirky, I just found it annoying. When I’m reading fiction, I’m not interested in trying to decipher the meaning of a poem to understand the dialogue. I applaud the risky choice, but it was a distraction for me.

The dual timeline was written incredibly well. One scene flowed from the last flawlessly and the writing was engaging. One Summer in Savannah was a miss for me as far as the plot, but the writing style is done so well I look forward to reading the next release from Terah Shelton Harris.

Many thanks to Terah Shelton Harris, Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley for a complimentary advanced copy of this novel.

When I was very young, at night my mother would recite poetry to me instead of bedtime stories; my favorite poem is still "Barter" by Sara Teasdale whose opening line begins, "Life has loveliness to sell...."And in this novel
Harris weaves such a moving and provocative tapestry of emotions that I quite literally cried all the way through it as I processed the elegance of her storytelling and all of its repercussions. Sara was raped at a party when she was 18 and now has 8-yr-old daughter, Alana as proof even as rapist Daniel awaits parole in prison. But when she coincidentally meets his twin, Jacob in her bookstore, her entire world changes! Let the tears begin! There are so many beautifully written themes: grief, bravery, temptation, redemption, and atonement (to name a few). This is my favorite book of the year so far as it will resonate with me forever; I am still tearing up thinking about it. Teasdale ends "Barter" with these graceful thoughts: "
"And for one breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be."
Yes, read this book and "never count the cost" as you will be rewarded with an experience not soon forgotten!

This was such a unique read with well-developed and memorable characters. I would recommend it to those who enjoy poetry as this is woven throughout the story. The storyline prompted excellent discussion on the topic of forgiveness.

The end of this book put a smile on my face and warm fuzzies in my heart. I loved so much about this book… I loved how it explored how actions have consequences and love and forgiveness are always not guaranteed. I loved how it illustrated the depth of a mothers love. I loved how it showed how love and passion can be found even when circumstances make a relationship feel impossible. I loved how it documented multiple people and their journey through pain, struggle, sickness, guilt, anger, forgiveness.

So good! A must read.

One Summer in Savannah
By Terah Shelton Harris


“It’s difficult to pinpoint the moment I started loving my daughter.” The opening line of One Summer in Savannah immediately grabbed my attention. In her debut novel, Terah Shelton Harris challenges the reader’s limits and the meaning of forgiveness.

Sarah is 18 when she is sexually assaulted by Daniel Wyler and becomes pregnant. Freightened and overwhelmed Sarah runs away to Maine. Eight years later, Sarah returns to Savannah with her daughter Alana after a call informing her that her father is in the hospital. Alana and the circumstances of her birth have been kept a secret from almost everyone, including Alana herself. Sarah has lived in terror that the Wyler’s would learn of Alana’s existence and attempt to take her away. While helping in her father’s bookstore, she encounters Jacob and finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. When she discovers he has changed his name and is actually Daniel Wyler’s twin brother, things quickly get complicated. In alternating chapters between Sarah and Jacob, we are privy to how both characters are impacted by their past, how each struggles to rebuild their lives and live for the future.

I have a lot of mixed feelings after reading One Summer in Savannah. I can see how the author has set up a story that is meant to stretch how we think about forgiveness. Is rape really the unforgivable sin? Or is it as Ghandi stated, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Shelton Harris has contrived situations that require you to suspend disbelief in order to follow the bread crumbs to her ultimate destination. This technique isn’t too dissimilar from what Jodi Picoult does in her novels when she plunges you into a moral dilemma and makes you wonder, “What would I do in this situation?” On the other hand, as a mental health professional I think that it is highly unlikely that a healthy rape survivor would purposefully and constantly expose herself to so many trauma triggers. While it may be true that you don’t always pick who you fall in love with, to choose to have an intimate relationship with your rapist’s identical twin is too big a stretch. There are other points I would dispute but I won’t quibble about them here. (Send me a DM if you have questions.)

Nevertheless, One Summer in Savannah held my attention, and references to the rape and it’s aftermath are handled well. This book may not be for everyone, but it will make the reader think. Proceed with caution ⚠️


My thanks to @TerahSHarris, @NetGalley & @Bookmarked for this gifted digital copy in exchange for an honest review.