A Hundred Summers, the unrelentingly romantic second novel from Beatriz Williams (after Overseas), delivers swoons and intrigue against the backdrop of the 1938 New England hurricane.
During their college days in 1931, New York socialite Lily Dane and handsome quarterback Nick Greenwald fell desperately in love. Seven years later, though, Lily is single and helping to raise her six-year-old sister, Kiki, while Nick is married to party girl Budgie Byrne, Lily's sometime best friend. In alternating chapters, Williams unravels the bittersweet story of Lily and Nick's young romance and their reunion when Lily and her family make their usual move to their summer home in Seaview, R.I., only to find Nick and Budgie taking up residence nearby.
Budgie immediately tries to wriggle back into Lily's good graces while Lily and Nick struggle against their reawakened feelings. Although Lily clings to the moral path, as the summer passes she cannot ignore Nick, especially since Kiki adores him. When she discovers the truth behind Nick and Budgie's marriage, Lily also unleashes a storm of secrets--about her family's rejection of Nick, about Budgie, even about Kiki--that rivals the vicious hurricane that could rip Nick and Lily apart just when they might have a second chance at love.
Williams evokes the era effortlessly and delights in ripping the rug out from under the reader just when the riddles seem easiest to solve. Filled with delicious scandals, catty socialites and true love, this beach read deserves pride of place in every vacationer's tote bag. --Jaclyn Fulwood, youth services manager at Latah County Library District and blogger at Infinite Reads