Because of the length and the number of narrative voices, Summerland appears to be aiming for a sweeping summer epic, a lovely, lazy, intimate look at complex characters in a beautiful town. In a way, I found the book lacked focus — too many stories, too many details, I ended up getting bored and not caring. Yet in another way, the book also seemed too focused on the accident. That’s an odd thing for me to say, because I generally complain if books wander pointlessly, and I do appreciate a focal point to tie together a sprawling narrative like this.
However, the crux of the narrative — what secret it was that pushed Penny over the edge — just wasn’t strong enough to propel almost 400 pages of narrative. I was intrigued, and I wanted to find out what it was, but I didn’t really care. Would learning the big secret really impact of these characters’ lives? They all certainly seemed obsessed with the question, yet it didn’t feel particularly urgent to me. Or perhaps it’s just that I ended up not caring about the characters.
However, the crux of the narrative — what secret it was that pushed Penny over the edge — just wasn’t strong enough to propel almost 400 pages of narrative. I was intrigued, and I wanted to find out what it was, but I didn’t really care. Would learning the big secret really impact of these characters’ lives? They all certainly seemed obsessed with the question, yet it didn’t feel particularly urgent to me. Or perhaps it’s just that I ended up not caring about the characters.