The Goodbye Summer CD : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A book to savor
Review: Caddie is a young woman who has led a very odd life. It's a wonder she is as dependable and compassionate as she is.We should all be so lucky to have someone so "boring" in our lives.

Nana is not your usual milk and cookies grandma. She is a strange, sometmes bitter old lady, on a painful slide into the world of alzheimers disease. But as eccentric as she is, her love for Caddie is always obvious.

We have all known guys like Chris. He's not a horrible person, but self centered and undependable. A believable heel.

Henry McGill is a wonderful hero. He is a slow moving guy. You would be too, if you were recovering from a tragic, life altering accident.

Thea is the "old" lady I want to be when it's my time. Full of zest for life, and a warm loving heart, she is a magical character.

Cornel is a lonely old man who has almost succeeded in convincing himself he doesn't need to care about the rest of his life.Almost

All of these lives are intertwined in a rich story infused with Pat Gaffney's usual warmth, humor, and compassion.

Nobody wants to get old, everybody will. I loved reading about how the characters in this book are handling the stages of their lives.

Old people, wounded people, lead slow lives. You don't heal quickly from a terrible hurt, and you don't get old quickly.

Patricia Gaffney has written a beautiful book to remind us of this.I'm a little sorry for readers who found this book to be "slow". How fast and busy their lives must be.

I can't imagine not wanting to find out what happens to all of these extraordinary characters, or missing Caddie's "interviews".

THE GOODBY SUMMER is a book to be savored, not gobbled.It is most deserving of whatever time it takes to be read.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Special, Moving Novel That Touches Your Heart
Review: Okay. Here's the deal. I confess. Gaffney could write about a trip to the grocery store, and I'd pay good green money to read it. I like her voice, I love her characters, I love her wry, understated humor. Her Flight Lessons was one of the best books I've read. The Goodbye Summer is a lovely, muted story of a woman who, as her name suggests (Caddie Winger), finally takes wing and discovers herself.

Gaffney is an extraordinarily gifted writer who always gives a reader a textured story with people who touch your emotions--here it's a grandmother who doesn't want to be a burden, who's aware of the shadows coming down on her creative, energetic, brain; Caddie, her granddaughter who engages with the elderly in a realistic, moving way while trying to sort out her own confused emotions; and a damaged hero who somehow makes you--and Caddie--fall in love with him.

I love thrillers, fast-paced romantic comedies, spy stories, sentimental romances. And I love Gaffney's books, too. I come to each book, however, with different expectations. What I know Gaffney's writing will always give me is a story that reaches into my heart, a story that shows me the world from a different angle.

The Goodbye Summer is not a book you can put down and say, "Same old, same old." The Goodbye Summer is not a book you've read before with the same old relationships and plot and only the names changed. The Goodbye Summer is fresh, rich, and emotionally engaging. The characters and their choices--and their dilemmas--are real. While it takes Caddie a while to change, to see her own possibilities, she does, and the reader is richer for having joined her on her quixotic, touching journey. This is a wonderful book, a book that defines certain kinds of relationships.

And I have to say that the scene in which she attacks the, uh, risque "sculptures" outside her grandmother's house is a classic! As are the sculptures!

As I said, even as cheap as I am, I figure it's money well spent when I buy a Gaffney book. And I don't wait for the paperback version!

Rating:
Summary: A CHOICE VOCAL PERFORMANCE
Review: Seasoned actress and voice performer Maxwell has proven herself adept at both comedy and drama in her stage performances. She exercises that talent to the joy of listeners as we hear conversations between some of the slightly flighty residents of Wake House, a convalescent home. Her reading of Caddie's story is heartfelt and endearing as we share the sadness of losing someone dear and the joy of discovering love.

Thirty-two year old Caddie Winger is a piano teacher, content for all of her life to live with her grandmother, Frances. But Caddie's life takes a sharp turn when Frances breaks a leg and insists upon moving to Wake House. Of course, she visits her grandmother regularly and becomes close to many of the other elderly residents. Her new friends are over twice as old as she is, save for one - a young man who was injured in a sky diving accident.

For the first time that she can remember Caddie is living alone, making decisions on her own, and perhaps finding a new and unexpected life.

- Gail Cooke

Rating:
Summary: Charming!
Review: THE GOODBYE SUMMER by Patricia Gaffney

I read THE SAVING GRACES a few years ago, but THE GOODBYE SUMMER, Patricia Gaffney's fourth book, is so much better. I did not love THE SAVING GRACES; it was not the perfect book. Something about the way the author put that book together did not make it flow at all. She had four central characters, and although some authors are very good at writing books like this (Maeve Binchy comes to mind), Gaffney is not. However, THE GOODBYE SUMMER was such a good book, that I am going to rate this one five stars.

THE GOODBYE SUMMER is the story of Caddie Winger, thirty-five years old and is living with her grandmother, "Nana", who raised her because her mother was never home due to a singing career. Caddie never knew her father. In this book, Caddie is struggling to become someone, and when she meets the man of her dreams, she finds that she is coming out of her shell and is no longer the timid, shy, music teacher she has been all her adult life.

Caddie's other inspiration are the friends she makes at "The Wake House", where her grandmother insists on living at while she recuperates from an injury. It is here that Caddie starts to come alive, especially after she meets a new member of the House, Thea, who becomes the mother and best friend Caddie has always yearned for.

The words to describe this book are "charming" and "wonderful". THE GOODBYE SUMMER is filled with so many interesting characters, yet they do not overwhelm the main point of the book, which is to tell Caddie's story. I did not want this book to end. If Gaffney's future novels are as good as this, she has won a new fan in me.

Rating:
Summary: A lovely read with fun and interesting "elder" characters!
Review: This book was such a nice read. The main character is Caddie, a 32 year old music teacher who has always lived with her grandmother (since Caddie's mother died when Caddie was very young). Caddie's grandmother decides to go live at the local pseudo nursing home while she heals a broken leg. The home is called Wake House and the inhabitants all are quite distinctive! This story is written through Caddie's eyes. Since she is no longer living with her grandmother, she starts to get out more and eventually falls in love. In addition, she visits often with the Wake House folks and gets to learn a lot about them as she write their bios for a Wake House project.

There are not many books that have so many "elder" characters written with such flair! You want to know more about them and their sometimes boring, sometimes exciting, but always REAL experiences. Just a nice, feel good book that will make you cry and laugh. I can't wait to read another by this author!