The Summer I Dared: A Novel [Hardcover]

Barbara Delinsky (Author)

Book Description

Series: Delinsky, Barbara | Publication Date: May 4, 2004

WHAT COMES AFTER THE MOMENT THAT FOREVER CHANGES YOUR LIFE?

This is the question that haunts Julia Bechtel, Noah Prine, and Kim Colella, the only survivors of a terrible boating accident off the coast of Maine that claimed the lives of nine other people.

Julia, a forty-year-old wife and mother, has always taken the path of least resistance. Pigeonholed by her controlling family and increasingly distant husband as "loyal" and "obedient," she realizes in the aftermath of her brush with death that there is more to her -- and to the world around her -- than she ever imagined.

Feeling strangely connected to Noah, the divorced, brooding lobsterman who helped save her life, and to Kim, a twenty-one-year-old whose role in the accident and subsequent muteness are a mystery, Julia begins to explore the unique possibilities offered by the quiet island of Big Sawyer, Maine. Suddenly, things that once seemed critical lose significance, and things that seemed inconsequential take on a whole new importance. With each passing moment, each new discovery, Julia grows more sure that after coming face-to-face with death, she must have more from life.

Resolving to make things right for the future and drawing on an inner strength she never knew she possessed, Julia passionately awakens to a new world, fearlessly embracing uncertainties in a way she couldn't have imagined only a few weeks ago.

Set in a beautifully rendered island off the coast of Maine, where lobstermen leave with the tides each morning to haul and reset their traps, and neighbors gather each night to feast on the catch of the day, Barbara Delinsky's The Summer I Dared is a deeply moving story of the risky but rewarding search for self, a story of survival, and of the irrepressible ability of the human spirit to rebound from disaster and to create life anew.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Ever prolific and popular Delinsky has often considered the phenomena of near-death experiences granting second chances in life, but rather than rely on hackneyed notions of heroes rising Phoenix-like from the ashes to triumph over adversity, Delinsky grounds her characters in the here-and-now and presents them with dilemmas more familiar than fanciful. Such is the case in her latest work, a tale of three people quite literally thrown together following a boating accident off the Maine coast that spares them while taking the lives of nine others. At 40 Julia is an obedient wife, dutiful daughter, and devoted mother, and has planned a visit to her aunt Zoe to reflect on her obligation to herself versus her ties to her family. Rescued by fellow passenger Noah Prine, Julia feels connected to him by virtue of their shared tragedy while also being drawn to Kim Colella, the other survivor, whose whereabouts at the time of the crash provide a shadowy subplot. As a gentle romance blossoms between Julia and Noah, each evaluates who they were before the accident and who they hope to become in its aftermath. Once again, Delinsky excels at combining a compelling mystery with an insightful portrayal of captivating people facing challenges both ordinary and dramatic. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Delinsky may be as adept at chronicling contemporary life in New England as any writer this side of John Updike."

-- Times Union (Albany, NY) --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1St Edition edition (May 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743246438
• ISBN-13: 978-0743246439
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,324,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Barbara Delinsky, author of ESCAPE (2011), NOT MY DAUGHTER (2010), WHILE MY SISTER SLEEPS (2009), THE SECRET BETWEEN US (2008), and FAMILY TREE (2007), has written more than twenty bestselling novels with over thirty million copies in print. She has been published in twenty languages worldwide. Barbara's fiction centers upon everyday families facing not-so-everyday challenges. She is particularly drawn to exploring themes of motherhood, marriage, sibling rivalry, and friendship in her novels.

A lifelong New Englander, Barbara earned a B.A. in Psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in Sociology at Boston College. As a breast cancer survivor who lost her mother to the disease when she was only eight, Barbara compiled the non-fiction book Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors, a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes. She donates her proceeds from the sale of this book to her charitable foundation, which funds an ongoing research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Barbara enjoys knitting, photography, and cats. She also loves to interact with her readers through her website at www.barbaradelinsky.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bdelinsky, and on Twitter as @BarbaraDelinsky.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful in depth relationship drama, May 8, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Summer I Dared: A Novel (Hardcover)

For years her identity was defined as Janet's daughter, Molly's mother, or Monte's wife. She accommodated the needs of everyone else at the cost of her own. With her daughter out of the house, Julia Bechtel decides to escape from her spouse so she can ponder what she wants to do with her unfulfilling marriage. Julia takes the ferry to visit her Aunt Zoe on Big Sawyer Island off the Maine coast. However, another vessel runs into the ferry causing both boats to explode.

Julia, lobsterman Noah Prince, and islander Kim Colette are the only survivors. Julia realizes that for some unknown heavenly reason she has been provided with a chance to live life on her terms. Every day is a miraculous gift as she now knows she can never return to her unsatisfying life in New York unless substantial changes occur. Comfort comes in Noah's arms, but Julia wonders if she has the courage to seek love with him because that would disappoint her daughter and her parents whose opinions she values.

Every venture that Barbara Delinsky takes her fans on is unique as the author never writes the same book twice. THE SUMMER I DARED is a beautiful love story as much as a character study of an individual finding courage with her second chance at life. The eccentric secondary cast, especially the barrier island crowd, keeps the tale from turning too inwardly maudlin while also enabling the audience to see the inner struggles of the heroine. Noah has his own demons in a neglected teenage son. All this adds up to a wonderful in depth relationship drama that focuses on the turmoil of good caring people.

Harriet Klausner

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great summer read..., July 7, 2004

By 

Mercedes L. Johnmeyer "The Most Happy" (Summerville, SC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Summer I Dared: A Novel (Hardcover)

I really got into this book right from the first chapter. The book starts off with a ferry accident that leaves only Julia, Noah, and Kim alive while 9 others are killed. It deals with the personal struggle Julia goes through to find her true self, and why she was spared, as well as the other two. There's also a little mystery thrown in about how and why the accident happend in the first place.
I must say though, sometimes Julia's wish-washyness got on my nerves, and I found myself wanting to yell at her to stand up for herself...but I think that's good when a book gets you so involved in the characters and their lives. I really recommend this book to anyone's that's interested...it's a wonderful little summer read that will hold your attention from the first page to the last.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life in a lobster village, August 19, 2004

By 

Barbara Rhoades "Jackie of all Trades" (O'Fallon, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Summer I Dared (Audio CD)

This is a story that is completely believable. From the moment I met Julia Bechtel and Noah Prine, I could actually visualize them as real people. Although this is a fictitious story, it made me believe I could see newspaper headlines of the boating accident.

Julia comes to Big Sawyer Island for a two week vacation but before the ferry can deliver her to the island and her aunt, there is a boating accident which kills all aboard except Julia and Noah. Big Sawyer is a lobstering island and all the residents pull together to rescue the victims.

Julia reviews her life. Her husband, Monty, her daughter, Molly and her aunt, Zoey and her parents, as well as Noah Prine are all people she thinks about. 20 years with Monty has been less than fulfilling and the accident causes Julia to re-evaluate what she wants out of life. She was spared when others weren't. The big question that bothers her as well as Noah is WHY they were spared. What are they to do now with their lives? Go on as before or made changes? And there is the question of what happened all those years ago between her mother and her aunt? Then, Molly shows up to comfort her mother but Julia knows there is something more than comfort on Molly's mind. Julia has to decide how she will go forward with her life.

Being good with a camera, Julia begins taking pictures of life on Big Sawyer. The newspaper prints them and Julie finds this rewarding. But in the printing of these pictures comes another problem. What is happening on Big Sawyer? Why was Artie's boat even near the ferry to cause the accident in the first place?

THE SUMMER I DARED tells about the changes in the lives of the islander's after such an accident and each word Ms. Delinksky writes is something I could see actually happening. There are twists and turns that happen in lives that have been affected by the accident and realistic every day problems that are just that, REAL. This is a well written story and one that I didn't want to stop listening to until every word had been spoken.