I’m massive Jennifer Weiner fan; like I’ve read all of her books fan. Her books offer me a massive reprieve from the world in times when world gets hard.
And this book in a way was no different, but it still was very different. I was looking for a good summer read and dived right into this one. And then this book came out of left field with its subject matter.
What started as light hearted story of a girl on Cape Cod enjoying a summer as a mother’s helper turned into a story of how one small decision can affect the lives of many people no matter how long ago.
We meet Diana at a juncture in her life. Her parents have sent her to Cape Cod for the summer for her to enjoy herself while she is worknig. While she is there she meets Poe who is enjoying his last summer before going off to college. After a summer of flirtation they meet for one last beach party. And that is where this story takes a turn for the worst.
Fast forward to current times, and we meet Daisy. Daisy is married to the very rich Henry. Her life might not be perfect, but she has a job that she loves, a teenage daughter who just got kicked out of boarding school who doesn’t want to conform to what her parents want her to be, and her husband who wanted her to do nothing to decorate his empty house and cook for him. I mean not a horrible life if you can move past how boring and oppressive it sounds.
When Daisy and Diana first meet, Daisy has no idea the connection that they share, but she is eager to have a new friend. Diana integrates herself into Daisy’s life as a client of hers and gets to meet the family. Let’s just say that dinner was interesting to say the least. The secret comes out and Daisy needs to make a choice about what she wants to do with her life going forward. I will admit it helps that Daisy had been growing weary of her husband so it helped to make her decision, and also she had her daughter to think about.
In the end Daisy (who’s name is really Diana as well) decides to move to the Cape and separate from Henry and her daughter learns a lesson in how to be strong for herself, just as she saw her mother and her new friend Diana do. I won’t give away what the secret was, because I think that in this era everyone should read the book.
Overall I give it 5 stars, but I will admit I am a little bit biased when it comes to anything written by Jennifer Weiner.