Judy Astley

This is the PERFECT summer read.

In The Summer Time isn't too heavy, but it's not light and fluffy. It's got a serious side to it, as well as the traditional capers you'd expect.

This book had me laughing out loud while trying not to cry. I was reminded of teenage summers and boy-troubles and Cold Feet.

But it's also a very grown-up book, even if Miranda makes some quite juvenile decisions and jumps to childish conclusions - but that's what this book is about, to me, it's about remembering show more being young and free and how different it was. Miranda regresses a bit while watching her own teenage children try to grow up. It's about remembering that the simple things in life are sometimes the best, whether it's a fried egg sandwich or cup of tea or simply being together as a family.

Miranda's comments about her children are hilarious, witty and sometimes quite dry. And the humour is definitely the best bit of this book. It really is laugh-out-loud funny and I must have looked like a loon when I was reading this on the bus.

The romance is great too - it's the slow rekindling of an old flame, with all of the confusion that twenty years, two children, and a divorce can bring.

I will definitely be reading more of Judy Astley's books.

Thanks to Random House via NetGalley for a copy of this for review. show less

An easy and entertaining read. The plot focuses on events following the meeting of a birth mother with her daughter. At first it seems as though there are rather too many minor characters but their lives do impact on those of the central family.

Perhaps this is supposed to be humorous, but it didn't strike me as remotely funny. The book revolves around a strange family with a druggie son and over-sexed ten-year-old daughter. The parents are even worse... I found the plot unbelievable and disgusting, and gave up after about five chapters.

A beautiful story
This contemporary novel by Judy Astley is a wonderful book that makes looking back over one’s life and remembering all the good times so special. In The Summertime really does bring a little ray of sunshine in to your life as you read, it has that warm and comforting feel about it. A bit like sitting in front of an open fire with a big jumper on, a mug of tea in one hand and a book in the other.

Miranda is taking her mother and the family back to the village where they used show more to have a summer home to spread her stepfather’s ashes on his beloved estuary. Where she remembers her final summer there as a 16 year old girl and all that came along with that summer, and how she is able to get one last chance to relive that summer for three weeks and renews old friendships with old friends.

By renewing her friendships she reignites an old love interest and for once is happy in her life eventually. Her children fully embrace the life by the sea and take to it like they have lived there all their lives instead of being kids from that there London town.

This book is a delightful read, a pleasure with wonderful imagery and gives light to some of the brooding that is part of the beauty of Cornwall. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. show less