Customer Reviews

The Summer I Dared: A Novel

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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

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.

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.

After being so disappointed with Delinskys last book Flirting With Pete I was not sure if I wanted to read The Summer I Dared but I am glad that I did. It is a wonderfully written story about what happens after we are faced with a life altering incident. In The Summer I Dared you will meet three very important people Julia, Noah, and Kim - the only survivors of a ferry accident that killed nine others. As you watch these three charactors live through the pain and guilt of being the only survivors, you will be asking yourself... What if something like this happened to me?

I enjoyed this story very much. Julia is a woman who is trying to come to terms with a bad marriage and feelings of low self worth. She goes to an island were she has been happy in the past to have some time to herself. An unfortunate accident occurs and she along with two other survivors must come to terms with what happened. I liked this book because there were different elements to the story that made it interesting. There was a mystery, info on lobstering, Angora rabbits, romance and insight to relationships with people in Julia's life. The characters were interesting and I especially liked the relationship between Noah and his son.
I gave this book 4 stars because I rate only books that I LOVE with 5 stars. This is not my favorite Delinsky book but it did not disappoint. The characters were all interesting and had depth. For me a good book has characters that stand out even if their not the MAIN character and in this book they all stood out. I'm glad I added it to my Delinsky collection.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I was sorry when I was finished -- I wanted to know more about how Julia and Noah's lives developed together. "You" know how it can be when you don't want a book to end. This story was well written and held my attention consistently. The details about angora rabbits and about lobstering were interesting but not "too much." I've always enjoyed B. Delinsky's books -- now I've got to wait for another new one
:o(

I've read almost all of Barbara Delinskys books. This one, like "Coast Road" and "More Than Friends" gets 5 stars from me. Barbara writes good, clean, hard to put down books. If you've read the others I've mentioned, you'll enjoy this one also. Happy reading.

While I have enjoyed Barbara Delinsky's books in the past, this one I have enjoyed more than any of the others. The story line was fabulous and the setting was an intricate part of the story rather than just background. I find that as I get older, I look for stories that aren't all sunshine and roses (too unrealistic) but I don't like many of the books that are nothing but doom and gloom either. This book was a wonderful blend of happy and sad; of a woman discovering who she is, what she wants, and experiencing the ups and downs along the way.

When people ask me if I have read any good books lately, this is the first one that pops into my head. I have even sent e-mails to friends telling about this book since I think it is so terrific.

Another vacation book that I picked up, The Summer I Dared was a real treat. I had seen it advertised before, but I was never really interested enough to pick it up. But, I am glad I did. This was a great, meaningful novel filled with romance, forgiveness, courage, and finding out who we really are.

Julia is a 40 year old mother, daughter, and wife. That's it. She has defined herself for so long in terms of other people that she really doesn't even know what she wants or who she is. All of that changes when she is on a ferry to Big Sawyer in Maine to visit her Aunt Zoë. The ferry is hit by a boat, and she and two others survive the crash while nine others die. The story focuses on Julia coming to grips with surviving the accident and discovering her identity. It also has a little bit of mystery about the boat crash to keep the plot going. Julia also starts to fall in love with Noah, the man who helped save her from the ferry crash. Noah also has to come to grips with certain aspects of his own life.

It's an absorbing book. You get caught up in the characters and their lives, and they are all truly magnificently drawn. The plot can be slow, but you really enjoy it because Delinsky is just taking her time creating multi-faceted characters. I think the book was a little long, and probably could have stood to loose 30 pages or so, but other than that it was a really great book that I recommend. It has some power messages. It points out the difference between living and being alive. Very good! Grade: A- (4.5 Stars)

In THE SUMMER I DARED, Delinsky gives us a believable and sympathetic character in Julia. She manages to live her life as an obedient wife, and loving and dutiful mother and daughter. For her, her life revolves around what she can do for others. She even tolerates her husband's various affairs. Given these circumstances, she barely exists in her own eyes at all.

She awakens from her selfless existence after surviving a boating accident. For Julia, life has begun anew and she wants to become an active participant. This life changing experience breaths into Julia and she becomes a new person. One who learns she has needs and desires and should come first in her life along with her daughter and family. No longer will she accept her husband's infidelities, she gains the courage and strength to stand on her own.

This story is a definite eye-opener. Don't wait for your near-death experience to determine if you need to find a new direction in your life. Take stock of your life now. Before it's too late.