Summer Hours : A Novel

Commencement meets The Graduate in this sparkling novel about a secret affair, the summer it all unravels, and the reunion a decade later that will be one woman's happy ending or her biggest mistake.

Becc was the good girl. A dedicated student. Aspiring reporter. Always where she was supposed to be. Until a secret affair with the charming Cal one summer in college cost her everything she held dear: her journalism dreams; her relationship with her best friend, Eric; and her carefully imagined future.

Now, Becc's past is back front and center as she travels up the scenic California coast to a weddingamp;mdash;with a man she hasn't seen in a decade. As each mile flies by, Becc can't help but feel the thrilling push and pull of memories, from infinite nights at beach bonfires and lavish boat parties to secret movie sessions. But the man beside her is not so eager to re-create history. And as the events of that heartbreaking summer come into view, Becc must decide if those dazzling hours they once shared are worth fighting for or if they're lost forever.

Set in the mid '90s and 2008, Amy Mason Doan's Summer Hours is a warmly told novel about the idealism of youth, the seductive power of nostalgia and what happens when you realize you haven't become the person you'd always promised to be.

1301422694
Summer Hours : A Novel

Commencement meets The Graduate in this sparkling novel about a secret affair, the summer it all unravels, and the reunion a decade later that will be one woman's happy ending or her biggest mistake.

Becc was the good girl. A dedicated student. Aspiring reporter. Always where she was supposed to be. Until a secret affair with the charming Cal one summer in college cost her everything she held dear: her journalism dreams; her relationship with her best friend, Eric; and her carefully imagined future.

Now, Becc's past is back front and center as she travels up the scenic California coast to a weddingamp;mdash;with a man she hasn't seen in a decade. As each mile flies by, Becc can't help but feel the thrilling push and pull of memories, from infinite nights at beach bonfires and lavish boat parties to secret movie sessions. But the man beside her is not so eager to re-create history. And as the events of that heartbreaking summer come into view, Becc must decide if those dazzling hours they once shared are worth fighting for or if they're lost forever.

Set in the mid '90s and 2008, Amy Mason Doan's Summer Hours is a warmly told novel about the idealism of youth, the seductive power of nostalgia and what happens when you realize you haven't become the person you'd always promised to be.

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Summer Hours : A Novel

Summer Hours : A Novel

by Amy Mason Doan

Narrated by Ann Marie Gideon

Unabridged — 10 hours, 52 minutes

Summer Hours : A Novel

Summer Hours : A Novel

by Amy Mason Doan

Narrated by Ann Marie Gideon

Unabridged — 10 hours, 52 minutes

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Overview

Commencement meets The Graduate in this sparkling novel about a secret affair, the summer it all unravels, and the reunion a decade later that will be one woman's happy ending or her biggest mistake.

Becc was the good girl. A dedicated student. Aspiring reporter. Always where she was supposed to be. Until a secret affair with the charming Cal one summer in college cost her everything she held dear: her journalism dreams; her relationship with her best friend, Eric; and her carefully imagined future.

Now, Becc's past is back front and center as she travels up the scenic California coast to a weddingamp;mdash;with a man she hasn't seen in a decade. As each mile flies by, Becc can't help but feel the thrilling push and pull of memories, from infinite nights at beach bonfires and lavish boat parties to secret movie sessions. But the man beside her is not so eager to re-create history. And as the events of that heartbreaking summer come into view, Becc must decide if those dazzling hours they once shared are worth fighting for or if they're lost forever.

Set in the mid '90s and 2008, Amy Mason Doan's Summer Hours is a warmly told novel about the idealism of youth, the seductive power of nostalgia and what happens when you realize you haven't become the person you'd always promised to be.


Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

08/04/2014
In 2013, after several years serving as NPR’s Moscow bureau chief, Greene traveled 6,000 miles of the Trans-Siberian Railway in a quixotic attempt to understand the Russian soul. As Green journeyed across the Siberian landscape, he made frequent stops to interview ordinary Russians in a variety of situations to capture the everyday realities of post-Soviet Russia. The result is chronicled in this travelogue that reads like a series of episodic radio pieces in the NPR style, a collage of Green’s interviews and insights from scholars about Russian history that attempts to answer a few difficult questions: what do the Russians want? Why do they tolerate a corrupt and restrictive government? And, as the Arab Spring erupts in the Middle East, how close is Russia to (another) revolution? What Greene finds is complex and frequently contradictory but all the more thought-provoking: a small business owner who believes Russia must be patient and slowly “develop” towards democracy, a taxi driver who wishes for socialism, an anti-Putin activist who believes Russia needs an autocrat like Stalin (but more benign). Despite the poverty and repression he frequently encounters, Greene remains optimistic throughout his travels, and he reproduces the source of this conviction in this collection of vignettes. (Oct.)

Fiona Hill

Beautifully written… The sharply observed vignettes, combined with the moving, elegiac quality of the prose make it a hard book to put down. David Greene’s travels provide insights and context for some of the more dramatic recent events in Russia that will appeal to both the casual traveler and the seasoned observer.

Aaron David Miller

Greene is a great storyteller, and what a story he has to tell. A fascinating and thought-provoking journey deep into Russia’s physical vastness and soul. Greene’s landscape is inhabited by a cast of characters that light up both and would have made Anton Chekhov proud. A first-rate tale that puts you aboard the Trans-Siberian Railroad on the journey of a lifetime.

Hedrick Smith

In this picaresque story of adventure, David Greene reaches beyond Putin’s Kremlin across Siberia to show us Russian life in the Raw—the gritty stoicism, surprising warmth and generosity, black humor, and resilience of the narod, the average people. A storyteller with a human touch, Greene finds Russians tested by tragedy and war as he joins them in their cramped apartments, jammed trains, and gulping beer and pickled horse sausage in their steam baths, facing an uncertain future with an unexpected streak of inner wildness. His Russians are stolidly patriotic and, even now, drawn mostly to strong leaders, resigned to tough justice and preferring stability and harsh rule to the chaotic uncertainties of democracy, their personal lives ‘full of poetry, pain, and laughter.’

Bruce Ramsey - Seattle Times

Describe[s] the Russia of the vast interior…. An impressionistic book, a book about people along the way.

Andrew McCarthy - New York Times Book Review

[An] epic journey by rail.

Kevin Begos - Associated Press

A mesmerizing, confounding, comforting and thought-provoking book.

Library Journal - Audio

02/15/2015
Former NPR Moscow bureau chief Greene twice made the 6,000-mile trip from Moscow to Vladivostok on the Trans-Siberian Railway, using the travels to examine early 21st-century Russian society. In this audiobook, he presents a series of extended interviews with a cross section of Russian people outside the governing elite. Figuring predominately is Sergei, Greene's translator and close friend. Others appearing include members of Sergei's family, the parents of a hockey player killed in a plane crash, a young businessperson on the make, and a human rights activist. He contrasts the hard and cold personae many Russians present in public with warmth given to family and friends in private. Greene also explores the Russian people's attitude toward President Vladimir Putin. While many dislike him and his corrupt government, little desire for radical political reform exists, and many people possess a sense of nostalgia for the Soviet era. While harshly oppressive, the communists provided basic social services lacking in present-day Russia. Greene narrates this story with great humor and warmth toward the Russian people. VERDICT Highly recommended to listeners with an interest in Russia and Russian history. ["An impressive look at a complex country, this book brings the reader into direct contact with myriad Russians struggling and surviving in their snowy, expansive homeland," read the starred review of the Norton hc, LJ 9/15/14.]—Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ. Parkersburg Lib.

Library Journal

★ 11/01/2014
NPR's former Moscow bureau chief explains that his book is "a journey and an adventure, a wild ride on one of the world's epic train routes, 6,000 miles from Moscow to far East Asia taking us into the heart of a country and into the lives of its people, asking how their lives have changed in the post-Soviet years." Greene's journey enables him to get past the headlines and provide insightful observations about the politics and culture of Russia today. (LJ 9/15/14)

Kirkus Reviews

2014-07-13
A former Russia correspondent for NPR ends his gig by taking a train across Siberia, generating new experiences and remembering earlier ones. Greene, who's still with NPR as a host with Morning Edition, debuts with a journey that is personal and emotional, both actual and metaphorical. He begins by explaining his history with Russia: He and his significant other, Rose, moved there in 2009; the inability to speak or understand Russian remained an issue for both of them—but one they were able to surmount with the aid of Sergei, a translator who became one of the author's best friends. During his journey of thousands of miles (Rose was with him only temporarily), Greene tells us about the hassles of traveling (security agents shadowing them), the explicit and tacit rules for behavior on trains, the charms of traveling third class (as circumstance occasionally forced them to do), and the people they encountered—both on the train and in the communities where they stopped. Greene had met some during other reporting excursions; others were strangers who shared rail compartments, managed hotels and drove public transportation. But traveling also provided Greene an opportunity to recall important experiences throughout his life. He recalls an intense conversation about hockey, a visit to a Holocaust memorial and a series of low points in his journalism career. In addition, the author offers quite a few quotations from other travelers and from Russian writers—Chekhov appears more than once. He also speculates continually about the Russian character: What do they really think about Vladimir Putin? Why does there seem to be lingering nostalgia for Stalin? How do they manage to deal with the almost Kafkaesque aspects of the Russian bureaucracy? Glowing in its profound affection for the Russian people, an affection Greene convinces readers to share.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940173548580
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 09/24/2021
Edition description: Unabridged
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