The Summerhouse

Rating:
Summary: If Only...
Review: Most of my friends have read this book and we all agree...if only we could time travel for a week or two. Jude Deveraux has an extraordinary imagination. I can't wait to read more of her books.

Rating:
Summary: A book you'll think about long after you finish it...
Review: I love JD and I own almost all of her books. I faithfully read each one she writes because she was the first romance author I read and I'll always be a loyal fan. This book was so different from her usual works, but just as good. This story takes you into the minds and hearts of 3 women whose lives take very different turns after meeting for a few short hours on their birthdays which they share. Each woman goes on to make bad choices in her life. Years later when the 3 meet in a Maine summerhouse for a weekend, they discuss their lives and desperately wish they could go back and change things.

Here JD weaves her storytelling magic and we are taken into a world where dreams do come true and people get second chances. We see these women drastically change their lives by going back in time to any 3 weeks in their lives that they want. The touch of magic in the book is enchanting... and while unbelievable, it is so refreshing because who of us wouldn't want to go back just once and change something we did in our lives and make it better?

This is a good read and a great addition to your bookshelf!

Rating:
Summary: a chance for change
Review: THE SUMMERHOUSE tells the story of Ellie, Leslie, and Madison who meet on their twenty-first birthdays at the Department of Motor Vehicles in New York City. They spend only a few hours together, but during this time they share their dreams for careers in New York. Ellie hopes to become an artist, Leslie longs to be a dancer, and Madison expects success as a model. Nineteen years later, as her fortieth birthday approaches, Ellie is urged by her therapist to reconnect with Leslie and Madison. They meet in Maine for a weekend and share the stories of their lives. Ellie became a best-selling author but is coping with depression after having been through a financially disastrous divorce. Leslie left New York to marry her college sweetheart who has controlled her life. When she didn't achieve success as a model, Madison returned home to marry and nurse her unappreciative invalid husband. While in Maine, the three find themselves in the home of Madame Zoya whose business card asks, "Have you ever wanted to rewrite your past?" Madame Zoya explains that each woman can relive any three weeks from her life, and at the end of three weeks each one may keep her life as it is or go with the new future she has created. Because all are unhappy, they take the opportunity to relive the three weeks. Then a new choice must be made - to return to the present life or go with a new future.

Jude Deveraux is the author twenty-six bestsellers including A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR, HIGH TIDE, AN ANGEL FOR EMILY, AND LEGEND. She is one of today's top selling romance authors

THE SUMMERHOUSE is based on an interesting idea. The thought of visiting Madame Zoya and having an opportunity to make new choices is intriguing. Deveraux describes the women in detail, and from the beginning the author is quite clear about the decisions Ellie, Leslie, and Madison have made that led them on the paths their lives have taken. By the time the women have the opportunity to relive the three weeks, the reader is focused on which decisions they need to make in order to have a happier life. This is a strength of the novel because it leads the reader to care about the choices they make.

Although the book is a bestseller, it has many weaknesses. The women are portrayed as independent women, yet their identities seem to depend on their relationships with the men in their lives. Physical appearance seems to be a critical factor in determining the happiness of both the men and the women. The characters lack depth, and although the author tries to avoid stereotypes, she is not always successful. For example, Madison is portrayed as a woman who wants to be noticed for her intelligence rather than her beauty, but when Thomas says "you're the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life," she wonders if he means "the most beautiful" or "just one of the most beautiful." The word beautiful is a major descriptive word throughout the book, and other adjectives include cute, delicious, and dazzling - not vocabulary one expects from a best-selling author.

THE SUMMERHOUSE will appeal to readers who enjoy an easy-to-read romance novel. Others who want to escape into another's life or examine the choices in their own lives will enjoy the premise of THE SUMMERHOUSE.

Rating:
Summary: He Done Her Wrong
Review: THE SUMMERHOUSE by Jude Deveraux is a new semi-romance novel involving three pathetic women friends turning forty together. In their early twenties, each of the trio--Madison, Ellie, Leslie--made a wrong turn into disastrous marriages. They tossed aside long-held dreams like yesterday's garbage for insensitive jerks. Madison's ravishing beauty had destined her for the modeling industry in New York City, but she returned home to care for an egocentric, crippled and rich but cheap boyfriend as his nurse-wife. Ellie, an artist wanna-be, sacrificed her dreams for her musician hubby who was completely unappreciative. In reaction to her anguish, she became a famous and fabulously wealthy romance writer. Leslie married her high school sweetheart and struggled with suspicions about affairs with his secretary, Bambi. The gals decide to meet at a summerhouse in Maine and celebrate their shared birthday. While there they meet Madam Zoya, who gives them the opportunity to go back in time at a critical juncture and change the outcome of their lives.

Jude Deveraux began writing in l976. Her books have been on the New York Times bestsellers list twenty-four times. In addition, more than thirty million copies of her books are in print. She has a huge following of fans who have made her one of the best-selling romance writers ever.

Deveraux's message in THE SUMMERHOUSE to her women readers is don't live your life through your man's--follow your dreams. It's a worthy and admirable message but unfortunately her trio--Madison, Ellie, Leslie--don't seem to strike out on brave new paths. (Madison does more than the other two, but it leaves us wondering--how? Where did she get the gumption since her beauty was always portrayed as her gift--her TALENT?

The trip back in time is a trite way to get this miserable group of heroines to change. It would have been much more commendable for them to bring about the necessary changes through their own efforts and intelligence rather than through magic tricks. Why couldn't Madison be seen making a decision to switch to medicine instead of modeling BECAUSE of Roger's condition? Her courage could inspire the many young soccer "moms" who read Deveraux's books to take charge of their own lives and perhaps move out of the mind-numbing suburban morass.

THE SUMMERHOUSE will appeal to abused women in similar predicaments. However, let's hope they make more gutsy choices than Madison, Ellie, and Leslie did--like teaching seventh grage English, becoming an airline pilot, or working on a road construction gang. Some other books by Jude Devereaux are THE BLESSING, AN ANGEL FOR EMILY, and A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR.

Rating:
Summary: Love Shack
Review: Three women are nearing their fortieth birthday: Ellie, a best-selling author of romance novels; Leslie, a former dancer who has settled into middle-class suburbia; and Madison, a former beauty who gave up a modeling career to nurse her crippled boyfriend. As the three friends meet for a twenty-year reunion at a 'Summerhouse' in Maine, they recount their lives and regrets. But they soon discover a local gypsy by the name of Madame Zoya, who offers the heroines a chance to travel back in time, but only for three weeks. When they return to the present, Zoya gives each woman the choice of either accepting their 'new' life (with the ramifications of a potentially different future), or to keep their old life unchanged.

Jude Deveraux is one of the top-selling authors in the romance genre, with over 30 million copies of her novels in print.

'Summerhouse' is the type of book that one hates to review, for there is nothing inside this four hundred page novel that is remotely likable. One may be shown a ramshackle hut, and may reasonably describe it as terrible; yet when pressed on what makes it terrible, one is tempted to shrug and say "everything". Yet this will not do, for we must look beyond the terrible and examine the foundation of the structure, in this case the author's vision (or lack of one).

Problems with 'Summerhouse' begin early and often, like in the passage below, after Madison reveals that her former high school beau dumped her for a college sweetheart:

Ellie looked at Leslie, then back at Madison. "Castration would have been too good for him," she said softly.

Yet five pages later, when Leslie admits that she broke her marriage engagement with the 'boy next door', note the change in Ellie's tone:

"You wanted to see life...so you ditched the boy and came to New York," said Ellie, smiling.

This glib incoherence is typical of 'Summerhouse'; in the case of Ellie, we have a character without a moral center. In order for fiction to work, characters need a consistent moral nature. That nature may change over time, with added experience, but not within the span of five pages.

Deveraux's three heroines spend a lot of time wallowing in self-pity, as they view their unhappy existence as something they have no control over, like an active volcano. Selfish men are the source of all their woe, men they have chosen to share their lives with. The men in 'Summerhouse' are depicted with such malevolence that the result is often comic. In the passage below, the elderly Frank invites Madison to ride in the cab of his truck, while Roger, who is still on crutches, protests about riding in the bed:

Roger moved forward...between Madison and Frank. "I think that, under other circumstances, that would be a great idea, but...". He gave a sigh and his face was full of sadness. "But I think after what has happened to me, I would be much more comfortable sitting inside the truck rather than on the hard metal truck bed. And the luggage being loose like that might further injure me."

Eventually the three heroines travel back in time and find dazzling romantic partners. It should be noted that the three 'dream' men (Thomas, Hal, and Jesse) are all fabulously wealthy. The materialistic nature of 'Summerhouse' is ultimately depressing, as is the shallowness of Deveraux's world.

The blatant sexism of the romance genre (or at least this example of it) is reminiscent of its male equivalent, pornography. Both genres seek to exploit and dominate the opposite sex, which is viewed as morally defective. Romance fiction and porno thrive because both are titillating, yet they ultimately deaden the human spirit. John Gardner once wrote that "bad writing betrays a distorted vision." Thus 'Summerhouse' betrays its author by revealing a vision of love as distorted as Larry Flynt's.

Rating:
Summary: Another Chance To Get It Right
Review: Leslie Headrick lives a life, as many housewives do, of quiet desperation. Her husband is philandering, according to public gossip at least, with his young and vivacious secretary, Bambi. Her daughter is a rebel with every cause, mostly railing against her mother because she won't stand up for herself. Her son quietly stays away from family stress, which means Leslie hardly ever sees him even though they live in the same house. The summerhouse that she had claimed for herself has fallen into wrecked abandon as a result of her husband's negligence. So when the invitation comes to see two friends that she hasn't seen in nineteen years for their joint fortieth birthday, she goes with nary a backward look. Nineteen years ago, Leslie had run from her engagement to Alan, the man she's presently married to, in order to see the world. Madison Appleby was going to be a model. Ellie Abbott was working on becoming an artist. Now, Leslie is trapped in urban mom hell, squeezed between working for fundraising committees and keeping up with the laundry. Madison is an anorexic chain-smoker who is at best a badly faded beauty queen. Ellie is an overweight and neurotic has-been bestselling writer. As they quietly gather in Bangor, Maine and catch up on all the depressing and sad details of each others' lives, none of them know that magic is in the air-and that they will all be given the chance to relive their lives and do things differently. But what will be the rewards and what will be the cost?

Jude Deveraux is a NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author. She's written THE MULBERRY TREE, FOREVER, THE INVITATION, REMEMBERANCE, TEMPTATION, and A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR.

THE SUMMERHOUSE is one of those lazy, do-nothing-all-day summer novels. The characters and situations are just deep enough to keep the reader involved and moving forward. The women come across as real, as do their problems, and the dialogue gracefully sews everything together.

Although the novel uses (an undefined magic) to move the women back in time to key points in their lives, the juxtaposition of what is supposed to be real events is just too bizarre. The conceit that these three women, all waiting till their twenty-first birthday to renew their driver's licenses would show up at the Department of Motor Vehicles on the same day is too much. Likewise that they would get together on their fortieth birthday (without their friends and families) after nineteen years of silence. Even two or three years of separation can seriously damage long-term relationships, much less a chance encounter that lasted only a few hours. The casual reference to "Ira's Girls"-based on the fact that the man at the DMV intentionally held three women up every day because they were beautiful and he wanted to look at them-really rankles. A guy in a position like that would get sued or fired, and probably both. Also, the title-THE SUMMERHOUSE-actually ends up having very little to do with the overall plot.

While definitely nowhere near a literary novel nor painstakingly plotted as a Nora Roberts novel, Jude Deveraux's novel will sate the casual romance reader looking to sped a light and breezy afternoon for a few feel-good moments thinking that everything can be made right in the world.

Rating:
Summary: Best Seller? Unbelievable!!
Review: I'm a person who finishes almost any book I start, meaning I'm pretty careful about choosing one. "National Best Seller" at one time meant a book was worth taking a risk on. However, I labored through a third of this book until I just couldn't take it anymore. As a retired teacher, I'd give this author a failing grade if this were turned in as a creative writing effort. For starters, to think that workers in a DMV office would retain beautiful women just to look at them is as preposterous as the chances that these three strangers would share exactly the same birthdate! ...And in one short meeting they forged a friendship that caused them to reunite nearly twenty years later? This silly story goes downhill from there. Does anyone actually edit this stuff these days? This one I'm not even recycling; it's going into the garbage can.

Rating:
Summary: No rewrites for this gem!
Review: This may be the third book of Devereux that I've ever picked up and read and I must say this is so far the most entertaining.
The way Devereux interwoven the lives of the characters here are most intriguing and there was a solid background presented in the book for each character that, I'm sure any woman may relate to in their own lives. I saw myself being Ellie sometimes, Madison too and Leslie most of all. Furthermore, the author went to great lengths to give the reader a visual feast of each woman's plan of action in rewriting her past mistakes in that one could not put the book down. I finished reading it in a day.
Also, it made me think of what I would like to rewrite in my own past and I believe a book, if it really makes you think of how would you fare under circumstances of its characters, even a novel coming from an author known more for her romance novels, is worth reading and enjoying.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best of Deveraux, but still readable
Review: The story was very enticing and entertaining up until maybe the last quarter of the book. It seemed like Ms. Deveraux was on some kind of deadline and just threw the ending together as fast as she could. It was somewhat disappointing. I wish she could've gone into more detail with the aftermath of the past relived and decisions were made.
However, I do recommend the book if you want a quick read. A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR is still my all time favorite! hehe

Rating:
Summary: The Summerhouse basks with imagination
Review: While The Summerhouse requires a fertile imagination to be appreciated but once your belief is suspended, the wistful read will enchant with sheer escapism. Jude Deveraux begins the sorority read with a serendipitous meet at the New York Motor Vehicle Department where three women Leslie, Ellie and Madison fatefully exchanged their personal tales. When they reunite twenty years later at Maine, each is haunted and distressed by their personal lives. Leslie finds the happiness of her marriage on the verge of crumbling; Madison gave up a modeling career to care for her wastrel-of-a husband and Ellie is viciously betrayed by her husband, leaving her impoverished and depressed. The tale takes a twist when they chanced upon Madame Zoya who offers them the opportunity to relive their past for three weeks and leaving them open options thereafter.

The Summerhouse's unconventional plot is narrated with clarity from Deveraux's focused writing. Beneath the cloak of fun time-travelling and a glimpse of the past bears a gentle cautionary tale of living lives without regrets. The warmth of the friendship and reunion basks against the reclaiming of their self-esteem, love and belief. With such a bright perspective on the small miracles of life and luminous ever-afters, The Summerhouse engages as the perfect beach-read.