When Ava decides to return to Corfu for the summer, she knows she must finally face the place and the people that broke her heart. But with old resentments festering, long-buried secrets lurking, and familiar feelings resurfacing, it looks set to be a holiday that will change all their lives forever. . .
Isabelle Broom was born in Cambridge nine days before the 1980s began and studied Media Arts in London before a 12-year stint at heat, the UK”s top celebrity magazine. Always happiest when she’s off on an adventure, Isabelle travels all over the world seeking out settings for her escapist fiction novels. Currently based in Suffolk, where she shares a home with two dogs and approximately 467 spiders, Isabelle fits her writing around a busy freelance career and tries her best not to be crushed to oblivion under her ever-growing pile of to-be-read books.
‘Escape with Isabelle Broom’ is what is says on the cover and that’s what you do when you read any of her lovely books. Last summer I ‘visited’ Croatia with her in the fabulous The Getaway and this year we’re off to Corfu in The Summer Trip. I’ve never been to either place but Isabelle Broom writes about them so evocatively that I would love to go. Huge thanks to Jenny Platt at Hodder for sending me a copy of this lovely book.
My Thoughts
About the book
This was such a gorgeous read. I really took to the main character Ava and enjoyed reading about her close relationship with her daughter Rosie. As is often the case with teenage daughters, this close relationship was threatened by a man Ava considered most unsuitable for her daughter. I was so intrigued to find out just why Ava had never been back to Corfu when she had clearly left her heart there. And as you will find out, there is one very good reason why this holiday is so awkward for her. With some chapters set 19 years earlier, we get to find out about Ava’s great love and why it all fell apart. I was so hoping that Ava would find happiness with her lost love but it really seemed quite impossible under the circumstances.
Find Isabelle on Twitter @Isabelle_Broom, Instagram @Isabelle_Broom_Author, Facebook/IsabelleBroomAuthor and on YouTube/IsabelleBroomAuthor, where she hosts a weekly author interview series called Hello (Again). To learn more about her books, view location galleries, read excerpts and sign up to her monthly newsletter, visit her website http://www.isabellebroom.com
Now single, estranged from her family, and preparing to wave her daughter off to university, Ava’s life seems a million miles away from the one she dreamed about as a teenager – a life now being lived by her sister instead.
About the Author
Isabelle Broom writes so well about relationships of all sorts and she unpicked the complicated issues between the family members brilliantly. There were definitely a lot of uncomfortable situations faced during this trip, some of which almost made me squirm! However, there was a lot of straight talking and more importantly listening which helped this family come to understand each other better.
Ah, estranged families – don’t they just make the most fascinating group of people to read about? Ava and her two sisters really don’t see much of each other, for various reasons, and are scattered across the globe, but when they find themselves all together in Corfu, well sparks are bound to fly.
It’s been 18 years since Ava spent the summer on the Greek island of Corfu, but she has never forgotten what happened during those months – or who she left behind.
The Summer Trip is exactly the kind of book I enjoy. Family, secrets and romance in a gorgeous location all combined so well to make this a five star read for me. Escapist reading at its best and one not to be missed this summer.
