Review: The Summer Wind by Mary Alice Monroe

The Summer Wind by Mary Alice Monroe

[Lowcountry Summer #2]

Published: June 17, 2014

Publisher: Gallery Books

Format: via NetGalley

Challenge: NetGalley/Edelweiss

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Its midsummer and Eudora, nicknamed Dora, is staying at Sea Breeze, the family’s ancestral home on Sullivan’s Island. For years, Dora has played the role of the perfect wife and mother in a loveless marriage. Now her husband filed for divorce, her child is diagnosed with autism, and her house is on the market. Dora’s facade collapses under the weight of her grief and she suffers; broken heart syndrome; Mamaw and the girls rally around Dora to heal herself as she spends the summer prowling the beach, discovering the secrets of the island and her heart. This is a summer of discovery for all the women of Sea Breeze. Carson returns from Florida to face life-changing decisions, Lucille confronts a health scare, and an unexpected visitor has Harper reconsidering her life’s direction.

When tropical storm winds batter the island, the women must band together and weather the tempest; both the one outside their windows and the raging sea of emotions within each of them. They must learn again what it means to be a sister. It is up to Mamaw to keep the light burning at Sea Breeze to guide the girls through the lies, the threats, and the rocky waters of indecision to home.

My Thoughts

The Summer Wind is the second book in the Lowcountry Summer series by Mary Alice Monroe. The series focuses on three sisters and their grandmother as they try to figure out their lives and try to move on. Each sister is so different from the next plus they have different mothers but all share the love of their grandmother and Sea Breeze the place they spent their summers growing up.

This book while it gets into everyone just a bit it mainly focuses on Dora the oldest sister. Dora is at her wits end dealing with her marriage to a husband who isn’t around much and also dealing with the fact that her son has been recently diagnose with autism. After having everything come crashing down on her, especially the recent news that her husband wants a divorce she suffers a mild heart attack. She decides to go back and relax at Sea Breeze under the eye of her sisters and grandmother. She starts to exercise and one day meets up with her first love. Although she is conflicted because she is still married she decides to hang out with him. She forgot how it felt to be wanted, needed and most importantly loved. Old feelings come back and she must decide if she should go with her heart or try and save her marriage after her husband has a change of heart.

She also tries to let others help her in terms of her son. She lets her sister Carson take him for a week to camp that deals with autistic children and dolphins. That trip is a challenge for both Carson and her nephew. But the biggest thing she learns from the trip isn’t from him but from a life alternating choice that Carson could’ve never imagined. She must decide if she’s really and if she’s up for it.

I loved this series so far because it deals with family. Family is the one thing rather good or bad that in my opinion shapes us to be who we will become in life. Though we might fuss and fight in the end they are the ones who are our backbone. I loved how in each book I’ve learned more and more about this family. Each book we learn more about each sister’s story and their struggles. I’m excited to see the next installment since I feel like we haven’t really read that much about the youngest sister. I also love how Mary Alice Monroe not only focuses on the human aspect but that of nature. The way she describes the beaches and wildlife in the area is breathtaking.

This is one series I urge everyone to get into, it makes the perfect beach reads and I know you will be fully invested in this family as much as I am.