Summer Secrets by Jane Green

Jane Green is a fairly prolific author.  I've read many of her books.  Among my favorites is Family Pictures. She has the knack of really getting inside her character's thoughts and telling the reader what each character is feeling at any particular moment.  Summer Secrets is no exception but rather continues to emphasize Ms. Green's expertise at character development.

This title's main setting is Nantucket, Massachusetts.  A familiar place to me as several of the authors I read frequently have also used this setting.  Although I've never actually been there, I feel as if I have and it is so easy for me to slip into the storyline.

Cat is a young woman who suffers from alcoholism.  She is a most vulnerable young person who starts drinking in her early teens and progresses from there.  She makes numerous attempts at sobriety but in the end has to reach her "rock bottom" before she can hope to ascend to greater heights.

While certain happenings in this novel are depressing, they are essential in order for the reader to understand what Cat has gone through and they encourage the reader to want the best for her..  It is easy to do.  We feel her depression, her frustration, her disappointment AND her hope for the future.

A well-written book that addresses a difficult subject.

Ladybookbug!