Oh gosh....I've always loved Siddons' books and I loved this one about 99% of the way through, too -- especially the first half about Lilly's childhood and summers at Edgewater in Maine, the descriptions of her family especially were lovely, very sympathetic and interesting people, a lovely, warm family. So much was evocative of my own summers when I was a child, the feel of the days and nights, the smells -- even the fact Lilly believed she could fly at one time -- I understood it all and loved it. It seemed idyllic and of course we know that doesn't really last even in our own lives. Lilly's first love, first kiss -- and then the tragedies, the years hiding from the world -- it was heart wrenching and sad and I had some tearful moments, that's for sure -- but it all made sense, I could understand it. Then after Lilly meets Cam, too little was said of the years of Lilly's marriage to Cam, and on reflection it was sketchy and didn't seem to hang together with the intense emotion of the early part of the story -- I'm still trying to piece it together to make sense of what followed. I was also waiting for a bit of revenge somewhere in regard to the horrid Peaches from childhood - felt sure it would come in some way, at some point. The last pages totally shocked me -- not only was there no revenge but I felt Lilly had been completely betrayed -- and that I, the reader, had been too. I was first shocked, upset enough to cry, and then I got very mad. I am still trying to figure this out and what Siddons was trying to say. What Cam did was so very cruel and there was never any indication that he was a cruel person -- he seemed to be a pretty sensitive and understanding guy. There were a couple of other things that made no sense and I had hoped for a wee bit of enlightenment -- the letters sent to Cam that Lilly has thrown away by the post office, and why the boy David went to his mother's house "only when he had to" -- what? why? I may change my review later, might have an ah-ha moment, but right now I don't know quite how I feel about this book, aside from anger! ( )

Lilly returns to her beloved summer home in Maine to mourn the death of her husband Cam. Memories of her early live make up the story including the tale of Jon, her first love at 12 years, who died tragically. How she met and married Cam, and raised a family are all included. The house feels as though it is filling up with ghosts as the summer ends and a northeaster approaches making for a stunning ending. ( )

When I first received the book, I thought "Oh no, it's so long" (358 pages). I really like to read shorter books. But as soon as I started reading I loved the characters and the descriptions of Edgewater made me feel as if I was there with them at the sea, smelling the food from the kitchen, feeling the excitement at being a child in the summertime. The only down side was I felt the book should have concentrated more on Lilly and Cam's life together, since there are missing years we know nothing about. I felt Lilly's pain at losing her loved one and loved that she talked to him and "heard" him talk to her. I've read mixed reviews about the ending, but if you read carefully and pay attention to what comes before, you might have an idea of what is coming. I did, and loved it from a readers point of view, but hated it for Lilly. This will definitely not be my last Anne Rivers Siddons book! ( )

This is a book I would have never normally pick up and read but I thought, what the hey...it's summer, it's a summer book...why not. All in all, it's not my type of book. But it's not horrible and I did finish it.

Recently widowed, Lilly is going back (with her husband Cam's ashes) to their summer house on the coast of Maine. She needs some time alone, away from her daughters and grandchildren, to reminisce and remember.

Flashback to Lilly as an eleven year-old and all the events that happened in that summer of 1962, including a first love with a boy named John. What proceeds is young Lilly going through loves and losses and how that defines who she is. Then it flashes forward a bit to when she met Cam.

Honestly, the book was a bit rambling and I wasn't sure of the point of the whole thing. I did like the story of eleven-year old Lilly. But then everything after that, including the ending (which was the worst ending I've ever read) just put me off of the whole thing. I wish she had stuck to the young Lilly part and then stopped. On a side note: she is a good writer. I really loved her description of the ocean and how connected young Lilly was to the whole summer place. ( )

I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them. Not so with this one. This is the life story of Lilly. She falls in love at 12 (?!) with Jon, who is 13, after knowing him for a few weeks. Lilly's arch enemy Peaches tells Jon that, unbeknownst to him, he is Jewish. He takes off in a sailboat in bad weather and is presumably lost at sea. Lilly is so devastated that she retreats into a shell for the next 6 years. Come on. Then she meets her future husband at 18, and there is more unbelievable drama culminating in one of the most bizarre and ridiculous endings I have ever read. This is a real stinker. ( )