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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The renowned author of The Women presents a poignant, funny, luminous novel about a mother and daughter—the complex ties that bind them, the past that separates them, and the healing that comes with forgiveness.
“[Kristin] Hannah is superb at delving into the characters’ psyches and delineating nuances of feeling.”—Washington Post Book World
Years ago, Nora Bridge walked out on her marriage and left her daughters behind. She has since become a famous radio talk-show host and newspaper columnist beloved for her moral advice. Her youngest daughter, Ruby, is a struggling comedienne who uses her famous mother as fuel for her bitter, cynical humor. When the tabloids unearth a scandalous secret from Nora’s past, their estrangement suddenly becomes dramatic: Nora is injured in an accident and a glossy magazine offers Ruby a fortune to write a tell-all about her mother. Under false pretenses, Ruby returns home to take care of the woman she hasn’t spoken to for almost a decade.
Nora insists they retreat to Summer Island in the San Juans, to the lovely old house on the water where Ruby grew up, a place filled with childhood memories of love and joy and belonging. There Ruby is also reunited with her first love and his brother. Once, the three of them had been best friends, inseparable. Until the summer that Nora had left and everyone’s hearts had been broken. . . .
What began as an expose evolves, as Ruby writes, into an exploration of her family’s past. Nora is not the woman Ruby has hated all these years. Witty, wise, and vulnerable, she is desperate to reconcile with her daughter. As the magazine deadline draws near and Ruby finishes what has begun to seem to her an act of brutal betrayal, she is forced to grow up and at last to look at her mother—and herself—through the eyes of a woman. And she must, finally, allow herself to love.

From the Publisher

Summer Island Review: A Moving Story of Family, Forgiveness, and Second Chances

Summer Island by Kristin Hannah is a poignant and emotionally rich novel about the complicated relationship between a mother and daughter. At its heart, the story explores family, resentment, forgiveness, memory, and the possibility of healing relationships that have been damaged by years of separation.

Through Nora Bridge and her daughter Ruby, the novel examines how the stories we tell ourselves about the people we love can change when we finally begin to understand their experiences. What initially appears to be a story about betrayal and an estranged family gradually develops into something much more personal: an exploration of the past and the difficult process of learning to forgive.

A Compelling Mother-Daughter Story

The relationship between Nora and Ruby is the emotional center of Summer Island.

Years earlier, Nora walked away from her marriage and left her daughters behind. In the years that followed, she built a successful public career as a radio talk-show host and newspaper columnist known for offering moral advice.

Ruby, however, has never forgotten what happened. Now a struggling comedienne, she turns her complicated relationship with her famous mother into material for bitter and cynical humor.

Their estrangement has lasted for almost a decade, creating a powerful emotional distance between them. Ruby’s feelings toward Nora are shaped by years of anger and disappointment, while Nora has her own perspective on the past.

This complicated dynamic gives the novel a strong emotional foundation and makes their eventual reunion especially meaningful.

When the Past Comes Back

The story takes a dramatic turn when tabloids uncover a scandalous secret from Nora’s past.

Soon afterward, Nora is injured in an accident, while a glossy magazine offers Ruby a substantial opportunity to write a tell-all story about her mother.

Ruby returns home under false pretenses to take care of Nora. At first, her intentions are closely connected to the magazine assignment. She sees the opportunity as a chance to expose her mother and perhaps finally make sense of everything that happened.

But as she spends more time with Nora, the situation begins to change.

What begins as an expose slowly becomes something much more personal. Ruby starts looking beyond the version of her mother she has carried in her mind for years.

The Beauty of Summer Island

Nora insists that they retreat to Summer Island in the San Juans, returning to the old family house on the water where Ruby grew up.

The location is important because it is filled with memories of Ruby’s childhood. It represents a time when the family experienced love, joy, and belonging before everything changed.

Returning to a place connected so strongly to her childhood gives Ruby an opportunity to confront memories she has carried for years.

Summer Island becomes more than simply a beautiful setting. It serves as a bridge between Ruby’s past and present, giving her space to reconsider the history of her family and the assumptions she has made about her mother.

Old Friendships and First Love

The return to Summer Island also brings Ruby back into contact with her first love and his brother.

The three were once inseparable best friends, sharing a close bond during Ruby’s childhood. Their relationship was changed forever during the summer when Nora left and everyone’s hearts were broken.

Their reunion adds another emotional layer to Ruby’s return. The island connects her not only to her mother but also to an earlier version of herself and the relationships that shaped her.

This gives the novel a strong sense of memory. Ruby is not simply returning to a physical location; she is revisiting a period of her life that still influences the person she has become.

Looking Beyond Resentment

One of the most compelling aspects of Summer Island is Ruby’s gradual realization that Nora may not be the woman she has believed her mother to be.

For years, Ruby has viewed Nora through the lens of abandonment and anger. But as she begins exploring her family’s past, she discovers a more complicated picture.

Nora is presented as witty, wise, and vulnerable, while also being desperate to reconnect with her daughter.

This shift in perspective is central to Ruby’s emotional journey. Instead of seeing her mother only as the person who hurt her, she begins to recognize her as a woman with her own experiences, choices, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

That realization does not erase the past, but it allows Ruby to approach it differently.

A Story About Forgiveness

Forgiveness is one of the major themes running through the novel.

Ruby’s journey is not simply about learning new information about her mother. It is about deciding what to do with that knowledge.

The magazine deadline continues to approach as Ruby works on her story, forcing her to confront the conflict between professional opportunity and personal loyalty.

What began as an act of exposure increasingly feels like an act of betrayal. The more Ruby learns, the harder it becomes to treat her mother’s life as merely material for a magazine article.

This conflict gives the story an emotional sense of urgency while also encouraging Ruby to examine her own choices.

Growing Up and Seeing Family Differently

Ruby’s journey ultimately becomes a process of emotional maturity.

She is forced to look at her mother—and herself—from a different perspective. Instead of remaining trapped by the version of the past she has always known, Ruby begins to understand that family relationships are rarely as simple as they first appear.

The story explores how adulthood can change the way we understand our parents. As children, we often experience family events from a limited perspective. As adults, we can begin to recognize that our parents are people with complicated emotions and histories of their own.

That idea gives Summer Island its emotional depth.

A Warm and Emotional Reading Experience

The novel combines serious family themes with humor, creating a balance between emotional intensity and lighter moments.

Ruby’s career as a comedienne gives her a distinctive voice, while Nora’s public identity as a moral advice personality creates an interesting contrast with the private reality of their relationship.

The result is a story that feels intimate and character-focused, with the relationship between mother and daughter driving the narrative forward.

Final Verdict

Summer Island is a moving story about the complicated ties between parents and children and the possibility of healing after years of emotional distance.

The novel’s greatest strength is its exploration of Ruby and Nora’s relationship. Their history is painful and complicated, but their return to Summer Island creates an opportunity to look at that history from a new perspective.

The island itself provides a meaningful backdrop, filled with childhood memories, old friendships, first love, and the sense of belonging that Ruby once experienced.

As Ruby’s original mission gradually changes, she is forced to confront difficult questions about loyalty, betrayal, forgiveness, and love. More importantly, she begins to understand that knowing someone means looking beyond the role they have played in our lives and recognizing the person underneath.

For readers who enjoy emotionally driven stories about family relationships, complicated mothers and daughters, personal growth, and second chances, Summer Island offers a thoughtful and heartfelt journey toward understanding and forgiveness.