The Summerhouse (Hardcover)

by Jude Deveraux (Author) "Leslie Headrick looked out her kitchen window at the old summerhouse in the back..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Madame Zoya, Jordan Neale (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
What if a woman could go back to the beginning and rethink her choices for love and life? When Leslie Headrick, Madison Appleby, and Ellie Abbott first met, they were in their early 20s and the world lay before them with its infinite possibilities. Now that they're about to turn 40, they reunite for a weekend at a summerhouse in Maine where they share the details of their lives during the past 20 years. Each woman has serious doubts and questions about the path she chose to follow, but none of them suspect the startling opportunity they're about to be offered to relive those choices and change their futures.

Thought-provoking, entertaining, and downright delightful, Jude Deveraux's The Summerhouse deftly develops the individual stories of the three women in fascinating detail while maintaining the overall focus on the central tale. The ties of sisterhood and shared experience that bind the three resonate with depth and clarity--no wonder then that Deveraux is a perennial favorite with readers. There is little doubt that this volume will join her lengthy list of bestsellers. --Lois Faye Dyer

From Publishers Weekly
"If you had to do it all over again, what would you do?" is the question Deveraux poses in this wistful novel of second chances. Twenty-five years into her career, with 26 New York Times bestsellers to her credit and 30 million copies of her books in print, the author serves up the following situation: 19 years ago, Leslie, Madison and Ellie met while waiting in line to get their licenses renewed at the New York City Department of Motor Vehicles. Sharing the same birthday, they became instant friends. Now they're all turning 40, and although they haven't seen each other since that long-ago day, when Ellie invites the others for a reunion in Maine, they agree to attend. Once there, they realize that their lives haven't turned out as planned. But then the trio stumble across Madame Zoya of Futures, Inc., who make them an irresistible offer: they can relive any three weeks from the past, armed with the knowledge since gained. Afterwards, they must decide: should they stick with the lives they have or go with the new futures they've created? The conceit of the DMV meeting and subsequent reunion functions as a clunky device to let the women tell their individual tales of woe; the idea that they're soul mates even though they only met once and never kept in touch requires a considerable stretch of the imagination. When they do go back in time, like 40-years-olds trying to play 20 at a costume party, the conversations are youthfully banal. The eternal allure of lives relived rescues the tale, but this lukewarm effort is strictly for loyal fans. The best thing about time travel in Deveraux's world? Instant weight loss. Major ad/promo.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Atria (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671014188
• ISBN-13: 978-0671014186
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (143 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #447,390 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Time travel, romance, and a bit of murder., July 9, 2001

By	Denise Bentley "Kelsana" (The California Redwoods) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book has it all. Three women meet in a summerhouse in Maine for their fortieth birthday where they confront the past, only to secure a future that turns their worlds upside down.

Ellie, a famous writer, is trying to come to terms with a debilitating divorce. She is the instigator of the meeting. Madison is a bedraggled beauty queen never to be found without a cigarette in her mouth, her once glowing and dewy skin now gray and pale. Our third lady is Leslie, a wanna be dancer who trained and dreamed of the future as a young girl giving it all up for a family and station wagon in the suburbs.

Our ladies meet up with a strange woman on Everlasting Street who allows them to return to the past, how and why each of them does, is the stuff that books are made of. The results are cataclysmic to some and minor to others.

I love how this book played out. The author had several stories going at once all to lead to a grand conclusion. After reading Temptation I almost didn't pick this one up. I'm glad I did, it was an enjoyable summer read. Kelsana 7/9/01

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshingly New Perspective, June 11, 2001

By A Customer

Despite many of the mixed reviews I read here, I ordered this book anyway, and was very glad I did. I find Ms. Devereaux's work to be hit-and-miss, but overall enjoy her work quite a bit. This novel, however, was truly excellent. It helped me face my impending aging with the perspective that life is not over at 30, or 40, or 50, depite what many books, magazines and movies seem to tell us, and that we can start over or re-make our lives in whatever way we wish - even if we don't get to go back in time. These women were very rich creatures, had made mistakes as all of us do, and yet were given the opportunity to retrace their steps and right an ancient misstep - what a fantasy! I found Madison's story the most compelling and wished for more. This reminds me somewhat of Katherine Stone's work, in the development of such different stories at once, and I think we receive enough detail but each of these stories could easily fill its own book. Great read, you won't be able to stop turning the pages until you finish.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars just a touch of time travel......., November 29, 2001

By	Barbara "Queen of her castle AND her home lib... (beautiful Charleston, SC) - See all my reviews

This isn't a normal read for me, but it was very good, It's a story about 3 women who met at the highway dept to renew their drivers licenses. About 20 years later, they re-unite to celebrate their shared birthdays and catch up on each others life events. During their reunion, they talk to Madam Zoya the futune teller/psychic who gives them a chance to go back into their life and change life's direction if they choose. Some choose to and some don't. It's interesting to watch lives take such different directions because of only 1 choice change.
This book will make the reader think about choices made and maybe choices not made and maybe choices wished were made.
The small amount of time travel was very interesting and imaginative.
It's a light read in my opinion with surprising twists til the very end. If you are a romance reader, this book will pull you right in.