Review: Summer Darlings by Brooke Lea Foster

Summer Darlings

by Brooke Lea Foster

Publisher: Gallery Books

Pages: 368

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  In 1962, coed Heddy Winsome leaves her hardscrabble Irish Brooklyn neighborhood behind and ferries to glamorous Martha’s Vineyard to nanny for one of the wealthiest families on the island. But as she grows enamored with the alluring and seemingly perfect young couple and chases after their two mischievous children, Heddy discovers that her academic scholarship at Wellesley has been revoked, putting her entire future at risk.

Determined to find her place in the couple's wealthy social circles, Heddy nurtures a romance with the hip surfer down the beach while wondering if the better man for her might be a quiet, studious college boy instead. But no one she meets on the summer island—socialite, starlet, or housekeeper—is as picture-perfect as they seem, and she quickly learns that the right last name and a house in a tony zip-code may guarantee privilege, but that rarely equals happiness.


Kritters Thoughts:  A historical fiction book set in 1962 on Martha's Vineyard as Heddy Winsome leaves the life she has had for a long time living off a very small income and barely getting by.  She leaves that life and enters Martha's Vineyard to enter a large home of a successful couple as their nanny for the summer.  She starts interacting with very different people and these moments will forever change her life.

I love a historical fiction book that is just meant to be a good story.  There are no lessons to be learned and there isn't really anything significant in regards to what is happening at this moment in time, instead it is just a good story that takes place in a different moment in time.  

Heddy was a great character to follow in this story.  Her innocence in the beginning was real and authentic and the journey of self discovery felt like a real story.  She reminded me of characters in movies that I have seen where you watch the character truly grow by getting outside of their comfort zone and having experiences.  

Martha's Vineyard was such a great location.  The author drew a great picture of a small place inundated with the elite during the summer and how they navigate the whos whos and create a hierarchy.  I love books with a bit of rich people problems and a little cat fighting, makes for great low grade drama.  

I loved Brooke Lea Foster's debut in fiction and I look forward to what she has coming next.


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 36 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Simon and Schuster.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.