The Girls of Summer

This book was very dark but also very good. Before we dive in there are trigger warnings for self-harm and sexual abuse. It is sort of a mashup of Tell Me Lies with Before We Were Innocent... with a bit of Jeffrey Epstein and #metoo thrown in. Set in dual timelines, I could not put it down. Rachel has been in love with Alistair for 15 years. She’s married now, but still thinks about him daily. The only thing is that she was a teenager when they met (she was just 17) and he is twenty years older. It begins with Rachel and her friend taking a trip to a Greek Island. They start out on vacation but she meets Alistair and decides to stay longer. Their nights are long, drugs and alcohol are plentiful, and some of her memories are a little hazy and feel off. Fifteen years later, despite being married, she tracks Alistair down. I don’t want to say much more for fear of ruining the story but it deals with a lot of themes: power and consent being two big ones.

Author: Katie Bishop