Life Without Summer

by: Lynne Griffin

Published by: St. Martin's Press

Reviewed by Carrie Padgett

Haunting, lyrical, and remarkable are all apt adjectives for Lynne Griffin’s debut novel, Life Without Summer.

Tessa lost her daughter Abby to a hit-and-run driver. Her grief and anger are raw and palpable on the page. Her husband is just as devastated. Author Griffin does an amazing job walking the reader through Tessa and Ethan’s journey of anguish, and then the long slow steps of restoration.

Tessa begins to see a counselor, Celia Reed. Celia is struggling with her own family issues: an alcoholic ex-husband, a rebellious son, and a fragile new marriage.

The investigation into Abby’s death stalls and Tessa begins her own research, driven by her need to know what happened to her daughter, to see what kind of person hits a child and drives off.

Tessa and Celia’s lives run on intersecting paths. As the women’s lives draw closer to a collision, the reader is pulled along, knowing there will be pain and anger and devastation, but also truth and healing. A savvy reader will see the twists coming, but that didn’t detract from the story at all.

Both Tessa and Celia are fully realized characters who live and breathe from the pages. Tessa is bewildered and raw, furious that no one else seems to know how to respond to her grief. Celia is restrained and professional, cut off from her own emotions. Seeing Tessa’s intense emotions seems to help Celia acknowledge her own feelings.

Griffin is an expert on family issues and she puts her knowledge to good use in her first fiction effort.

For a book about the death of a child, Life Without Summer ends on a hopeful note without triteness or cliché.

Armchair Interviews says: A 5-star offering from a first-time author.

Author’s Web site: http://www.LynneGriffin.com