Review: The Summer Girls

Marietta Muir (Mamaw) invites her three granddaughters to her Sullivan’s Island home for her 80th birthday.  When  they were children, the half-sisters spent their summers together at Mamaw’s house.  They’ve grown apart since then and Mamaw hopes reuniting them will bring them closer again.

The Summer Girls, by Mary Alice Monroe, is the first book in a trilogy featuring Carson, Dora, and Harper – they all have the same father but different mothers.  Carson is a photographer living in California, Dora’s marriage just fell apart leaving her to care for her Asperger’s son alone, and Harper works for a publishing company in New York, so their lives are very different.  They all love Mamaw, though, and have very fond memories of their summers with her so they make an effort to attend her birthday gathering.

This book focuses on Carson and her relationships with her sisters.  Things aren’t going well for Carson right now, so the invitation comes at the perfect time.  She arrives at Sullivan’s Island before her sisters and uses the time to head to the beach.  She’s confronted by a shark while surfing and when a dolphin saves her she befriends it, not realizing how much “Delphine” will shape her summer.

I thought this book was wonderful – it weaves relationships with an environmental story. I love the way Monroe entertains and educates readers at the same time.  Her passion for the environment is obvious in The Summer Girls -she includes some facts about dolphins at the back of the book.  I’m already looking forward to the next two books in the trilogy.  Whether you’re heading to the beach this summer or not, you’re going to want to grab a copy of this book!

Review copy provided by the author.  I am an Indiebound Affliate.