Four women are at the heart of THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS by Kristy Woodsen Harvey: Lanier, Mary Stuart, Daphne, and her aunt, June, who owns the camp for girls. Three of the women forge a lifelong friendship while attending Camp Holly Springs. I loved those back-in-time chapters, and it made me long for the long, lazy days of summer spent with friends riding bikes or going to the community pool. Each of the women has something she is struggling with, and for June, the camp is in financial jeopardy. The women rally, and they continue to help each other with all their hard things.
Single mom trope alert! Daphne is a successful, hardworking mom who has the most adorable four-year-old, Henry. What’s even better is how her son’s father, Steven, was integrated into the story. While never married and not together, the co-parenting was drama free and full of platonic love. It was so great to see how much Daphne and Steven cared about each other, which is something not often shown in books a lot.
I loved every minute of THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS. Kristy Woodsen Harvey did an incredible job portraying women's friendships and the cycles they go through. This is one to add to your summer reading list. You won't be able to put it down. I give this novel 5 stars and I HIGHLY recommend it!!
Four women come together to save the summer camp that changed their lives and rediscover themselves in the process in this heartwarming new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Veil.
Nearly thirty years ago, in the wake of a personal tragedy, June Moore bought Camp Holly Springs and turned it into a thriving summer haven for girls. But now, June is in danger of losing the place she has sacrificed everything for—and begins to realize how much she has used the camp to avoid facing difficulties in her life.
June’s niece, Daphne, met her two best friends, Lanier Bradley and Mary Stuart Harris, during a fateful summer at camp, and the three are inseparable even in their thirties. But when attorney Daphne discovers that Lanier’s fiancé—who just so happens to be her client—has done something highly illegal, she must choose between her job and her friendship.
Meanwhile, Lanier is hiding secrets both new and old that might make Daphne see the situation in an entirely different light. When one of those secrets unexpectedly rises to the surface, it threatens to change the very fabric of their friendship.
But when the women learn that their childhood oasis is in danger of closing, they put aside their own problems and band together with June to save it, sending them on a journey that promises to open the next chapters in their lives.
From an author whose “writing coats your soul with heart” (E! Online), The Summer of Songbirds is a lyrical and unforgettable celebration of female friendship, and a love letter to the places and people that make us who we are.
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