Title: The Summer Seekers
Author: Sarah Morgan
Publication: May 18, 2021
Publisher: HQN
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Pages: 432
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
Kathleen is eighty years old. After she has a run-in with an intruder, her daughter wants her to move in to a residential home. But she’s not having any of it. What she craves—what she needs—is adventure.
Liza is drowning under the daily stress of family life. The last thing she needs is her mother jetting off on a wild holiday, making Liza long for a solo summer of her own.
Martha is having a quarter-life crisis. Unemployed, unloved and uninspired, she just can’t get her life together. But she knows something has to change.
When Martha sees Kathleen’s advertisement for a driver and companion to share an epic road trip across America with, she decides this job might be the answer to her prayers. She’s not the world’s best driver, but anything has to be better than living with her parents. And traveling with a stranger? No problem. Anyway, how much trouble can one eighty-year-old woman be?
As these women embark on the journey of a lifetime, they all discover it’s never too late to start over.
REVIEW:
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
When I saw this book for my summer/spring reads email from the publisher I knew that I wanted to read it. The cover gave me some serious Audrey Hepburn vibes with the headscarf flowing out behind a car. Plus I have read some books by this author and really really liked them. Also, the fact that it was a travel book of sorts also piqued my interest. I couldn’t wait to read it.
Kathleen is almost 81. She spent years traveling the globe and recording a very popular TV show. She starts to question what she is doing when a man comes into her home and she bangs him with a cast-iron skillet. Her daughter Liza doesn’t want her to live alone anymore and to sell her home. Kathleen has other ideas. She is going to travel Route 66. She puts an advert for a driver and companion for the trip. Martha who has hit rock bottom with her life applies. Together they leave the UK and go to the US to drive Route 66. They discover things about themselves along the way and long-fought memories return to the surface. This book was good. Not amazing and not horrible. I did have a hard time getting into it. The beginning I thought was a bit tedious. Once they got on the road and things started to shake out between the characters it got better. I still didn’t hate it though.
The interaction between these characters is amazing. Martha totally brings Kathleen a different perspective than what she is used to. Marth is very intuned to people’s feelings and their thoughts. I think she would be a perfect nurse or something of that nature. I wish that I am like Kathleen when I am older. She was free to be her and lived a life full of adventure. Unfortunately, I think I more like her neurotic daughter Liza. Doing everything for everyone and getting burned out with her life. The shift with each of the characters was written very well. They each shift their life and it turned out for the best for each of them. I was really bummed there wasn’t an epilogue. I really wanted to know how each of them turned out in the end. I thought it ended rather abruptly. Maybe there will be a sequel follow-up book.
Pick up your copy of The Summer Seekers by Sarah Morgan on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or check your local bookstore. Also make sure to add it to your To Reads list on Goodreads and leave feedback for the author when you are finished. You can check out more from author Sarah Morgan on her website HERE and stay tuned for more work from her in the near future.
