Thayer

I’m not a big fan of “women’s fiction.” In fact, two years ago I began my review of Nancy Thayer’s Family Reunion by saying “I admit it. The phrase “women’s fiction” generally makes me shudder. I don’t quite equate it with the phrase “bodice ripper,” but almost. “ I DID give that one three stars, which isn’t great, but I also said it was comforting – like a warm blanket and a cup of tea. And since we had been in pandemic mode for over a year at that point, and now we are in year THREE (!), I welcomed the opportunity to receive a copy of Nancy Thayer’s All The Days of Summer from Random House-Ballantine and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. 

In Family Reunion, the protagonist was a nice older (ahem) woman named Eleanor Sunderland, who lived on Nantucket Island year-round (as does Ms. Thayer). Eleanor was rattling around alone in her huge old cliffside home three years after the death of her husband.   The home had been in her family forever, and she had loved it — it was her permanent home, and it was where her family has gathered summers and holidays for generations. You get the idea. Over to All The Days of Summer. 

Heather Willette (the new Eleanor) is a woman who has had a good life living in a Boston suburb with her husband Wall (?) and their son Ross. They own a successful business, live in a beautiful home they lovingly restored, and life seems good.  But Heather wants more…the flame has gone out of the marriage, and Heather is thinking she needs a CHANGE. A friend suggests Heather should rent a cottage on Nantucket for three months (at ONLY $10,000 per month, so we can see Heather’s well fixed, and her problem isn’t money for sure). She decides to divorce her husband, spend the summer months figuring out WTF she really wants and needs, and go from there. What could possibly go wrong? Her son, recently having fallen in love with the only child of a wealthy family who lives year-round on Nantucket,  announces he is moving to the island with Kailee, will be spending the summer working for Kailee’s family business (rather than joining his own father at the hardware store, as Heather and her husband had always assumed was the plan) Problem is, Heather can’t stand Kailee…and it’s not just her annoying name. 

Just as was the case with Family Reunion, reading this one was like a warm blanket and a cup of tea. Comforting. So that was the good. Once again, in this book, I didn’t really relate to any of the characters, in fact I pretty much couldn’t stand anyone! Or at the very least I was annoyed by them. Heather has no clue how the real world lives. Neither does Kailee. We don’t get to know the hard-working, hardware-store-owning patriarch, but his withdrawal from Heather and Ross seems at the least understandable. And we KNOW what is going to happen, at least the part about Heather making good friends, deciding to move to the island year-round, and meeting a single man, who seems ideal for her (he’s kind of annoying too). I am quite sure Nancy Thayer’s fans will love it. Tons of people will find it a comforting escape from their daily challenges in this extremely challenging time. I could only go three stars for Family Reunion, but I’m giving this one four, because it reminded me how lucky I am, it was well written, and it is a good example of comforting “women’s fiction.” If that’s your thing, ENJOY!