Some summers never leave you.
At seventeen, Ruth lost her mother to cancer, and her father, unable to handle his grieving daughter, shipped her off to Block Island with nothing but a name scribbled on the back of a receipt: Diana Beckett. Diana, a renowned photographer, took Ruth in for the summer, and Block Island became Ruth’s refuge, a place of beauty and creativity, a place where she could nurture her dreams of being a writer, a place where she could fall in love for the first time—with Diana’s nephew, Charlie.
Now, at twenty-seven, Ruth has spent the last ten summers living and working among the lucky few who get to vacation in this wealthy beach town, and the rest of the year just scraping by, yearning to return to the place where she feels safe and unburdened. But then Ruth’s world is upended by tragedy again. Desperate for an anchor, she reaches for the person she’s been pining for since she met him—Charlie—who has his own startling revelation to share. And when another surprise comes in the form of a box left to Ruth by Diana, its contents raise questions about just how well she knew the two women who raised her. Torn between what to believe about her past, and what her future might hold, Ruth is faced with another choice: does she dare to rewrite her story entirely?
About The Author
My Review
This book is about grief, longing, and the messy process of figuring out who you are when life refuses to move at the pace you expected. Ruth arrives on Block Island at seventeen after losing her mother and being abandoned by her father, finding refuge with the enigmatic Diana Beckett and forming a deep connection with Diana’s nephew, Charlie.
A decade later, Ruth is still returning to the island each summer, emotionally stuck and unsure how to move forward. When Diana dies and Charlie reappears engaged, Ruth’s fragile sense of stability unravels, forcing her to confront unresolved grief, nostalgia, and the fear of being left behind.
The novel excels at capturing the quiet ache of an existential mid-twenties crisis. Ruth isn’t always likable, but she feels deeply authentic, and her flawed choices make her journey compelling. The pacing is slow at first, yet the emotional payoff grows steadily, delivering powerful moments that linger long after reading. Atmospheric writing makes Block Island feel alive and intimate. Tender, raw, and introspective, this is less a romance and more a heartfelt exploration of healing and belonging.
My Rating
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