Review/US Giveaway: Firefly Summer by Nan Rossiter

• Title:  Firefly Summer
• Author:  Nan Rossiter
• Genre:  Women’s Fiction
• Pages:  352
• Published:  July 2016 – Kensington
• Source:  Publisher

Description:  The close-knit Quinn siblings enjoyed the kind of idyllic childhood that seems made for greeting cards, spending each summer at Whit’s End, the family’s home on Cape Cod. Then comes the summer of 1964, warm and lush after a rainy spring—perfect firefly weather. Sisters Birdie, Remy, Sailor, Piper, and their brother, Easton, delight in catching the insects in mason jars to make blinking lanterns. Until, one terrible night, tragedy strikes.

Decades later, the sisters have carved out separate lives on the Cape. Through love and heartbreak, health issues, raising children, and caring for their aging parents, they have supported each other, rarely mentioning their deep childhood loss. But one evening, as they sit together at Whit’s End to watch the sun set, the gathering fireflies elicit memories of that long-ago night, and a tumult of regrets, guilt, and secrets tumble out.

Poignant yet hopeful, Firefly Summer is an uplifting story of the resilience of sisterhood and the bright glimpses of joy and solace that, like fireflies after rain, can follow even the deepest heartaches.  (publisher)

My take:  I’m from a big family of seven girls and one boy so I love novels about siblings, especially sisters. Nan Rossiter’s new novel is about four sisters in their late-fifties to mid-sixties. When they were young, more than fifty years earlier, tragedy struck the family and had a profound effect on each sibling.

Birdie, the oldest feels responsible for the tragedy and has increasingly self-medicated with wine. It’s taking a toll on her marriage as well as her relationship with her sisters. Remy was widowed young and made her life’s focus raising her three children. Now she has an unexpected chance of love. Sailor, having just filed for divorce from her philandering husband, has realized her dream of living on the Cape near her sisters. Piper, the youngest sister, is feeling the physical changes women of a certain age go through and is a bit disconcerted by it all.

I loved reading Firefly Summer. The Cape setting was lovely. There’s so much I identified with – a bit in each sister. I found that so enjoyable. There’s not a lot of fiction out there with characters in my age demographic so I relished in reading it. The future is uncertain for all the siblings, just as it is for all of us. What is certain is that if one remains optimistic in life it makes the tough times a little easier to endure. And, in this novel as well as my case, having sisters is always a plus. Recommended.

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Praise for the novels of Nan Rossiter

“Nan Rossiter is at the peak of her storytelling abilities with Under a Summer Sky, which is told with the kind of compassion, grace, and wisdom that is nearly unrivaled in contemporary fiction.”—Examiner.com

“Eloquent and surprising…I love this story of faith, love, and the lasting bonds of family.”—Ann Leary, author of Outtakes from a Marriage on The Gin & Chowder Club

“A gripping story of three sisters, of love lost and found and a family’s journey from grief to triumph. A sure winner.”—Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author, on More Than You Know

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About the author:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nan Parson Rossiter’s adult fiction is often compared to the work of Nicholas Sparks – especially her first novel, THE GIN & CHOWDER CLUB. She hopes readers who enjoyed GIN & CHOWDER (or those who haven’t discovered it yet!) will look for the same characters in the Christmas anthology, MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT. Nan’s second novel, WORDS GET IN THE WAY, is an uplifting story about a single mom whose young son has autism. Her third novel, MORE THAN YOU KNOW, touches on the bonds of sisterhood and the tragedy and despair of Alzheimer’s, and her new novel, UNDER A SUMMER SKY, ties them all together in the spring of 2014.

Nan is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and is also the author-illustrator of several books for children including, most recently, THE FO’C’SLE: HENRY BESTON’S OUTERMOST HOUSE, called “a lovely vision of one man’s communion with nature” by Publisher’s Weekly.

Nan lives in rural Connecticut with her husband and two handsome sons.

To learn more visit www.nanrossiter.com

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Giveaway ends August 13, 2016