Book Review: Jennifer Weiner's Big Summer

Thank you to Atria Books for providing me with a copy of Jennifer Weiner’s latest novel, Big Summer, in exchange for an honest review.

Drue Cavanaugh appears to have it all. She’s rich, beautiful, and successful. However, looks can be deceiving, and happiness is something that has always eluded Drue. Drue is magnetic and charming, which draws people to her, but she also has a ruthless, mean streak, which destroys her friendships.

Drue’s childhood friend, Daphne Berg, was a target of Drue’s cruelty, and after a particularly painful incident, they haven’t spoken in six years. Daphne is surprised when Drue contacts her, begging Daphne to be her maid of honor for her upcoming lavish Cape Cod wedding. Drue seems sincere in her desire to fix their friendship, but there is another piece of the puzzle. Daphne is a rising social media star and Drue pitches that Daphne can use the wedding to promote herself. Many aspects of the wedding are being promoted on social media and companies have donated products for the bride and groom to showcase.

Daphne agrees, and she is swept back into Drue’s glamorous world. On the night of the rehearsal dinner, Daphne meets a handsome man and has a steamy one-night stand. The next morning, the man is gone, and Drue is found dead in a nearby hot tub. Daphne is a suspect, and she works to solve the mystery of both Drue’s murder and the identity of her mystery man.

I’ve read many of Weiner’s previous novels, and I’m a fan. I was excited to read Big Summer, but I must confess that this was a miss for me. The first third of the story is strong; setting up the history and dynamic between Drue and Daphne. Daphne is a charming character, especially as we meet her after she has made a big transformation in her life. She is happy and on the path to success when Drue’s reappearance threatens her. Drue’s sway over people is captivating. I found my interest crumbling after Drue died and the story shifts to a mystery.

I didn't anticipate the reveal of the murderer, yet it wasn’t a satisfying twist. Weiner sets Drue up as someone who has wronged many people and therefore, her murderer could be anyone. Daphne, and her roommate Darshi, set-off to solve the various mysteries. The mystery aspect of the novel has a lot of convenient situations and tenuous links. I didn’t find it plausible and my interest waned. Mysteries are a departure for Weiner, and I applaud her for trying something new, but it didn’t gel.

A lovely aspect of the story was the relationship between Daphne and her parents, especially her father. Daphne and her father have a Sunday tradition of trying different restaurants and cuisines. In a flashback scene, Drue joins them one Sunday. Drue’s parents have held her at a distance, and being included on this Sunday outing was an emotional experience for Drue. Daphne is made aware that the love from her parents and their support is something that money can’t buy.

Big Summer has beautiful themes of the ability to change and not being defined by your past. Daphne has insecurities due to her weight, but when she allows herself to let go of her worries, she finds acceptance, including a new boyfriend, Nick. Speaking of Nick, their romance is passionate and sexy. I may have been blushing!

Big Summer reminds us that not everything on social media is how it appears, both what is shared and what is kept private. People have the ability to change, even if we are not noticing their changes. I’m a fan of Weiner and will certainly read her future novels, but Big Summer was enough of a miss for me, that I can’t recommend it. The strengths in Big Summer are the characters and themes, but the overarching plot is messy.

Social Distancing in Littleton: Week Twelve

Things in our neighborhood opened up a few weeks ago, and we’ve remained cautious. However, this week, we took a few calculated risks, which may have been a bad idea.

We ate out in a restaurant for the first time in months. It was unplanned, as we had to return an item to American Furniture Warehouse and we were hungry. Initially, we had ordered food from an Indian restaurant to take-home, but when they were backlogged, we canceled the order, and dined-in at a Waffle House.

I can’t believe that Waffle House, especially for dinner, was our first post-lockdown/dine-in meal. It’s disappointing that we went this direction. That said, the restaurant was empty. For a majority of our meal, we were the only customers, and then a solo customer sat on the other side of the restaurant. Masks all around and the restaurant was spaced out, so that even if it had been at capacity, we would have been far from other customers. It felt safe…or at least as safe as they could make it for dine-in. I felt good about supporting the staff and they seemed grateful to have us.

I finally got my hair done. I made the appointment weeks ago, after careful consideration that the situation, with covid regulations in place, would be low-risk. This was my first cut/color in Colorado and I was thrilled to find a mobile salon that comes to our neighborhood.

Cuts on Location offers a full salon in an airstream trailer. It’s very cool. I had been going to my Los Angeles stylist, Vanessa, for fifteen years, so it was a difficult transition to find someone new. Luckily, Crissy was amazing. I love my new cut and color; definitely much over due and appreciated.

As with the Waffle House, precautions were taken and it felt low risk.

I felt normal and healthy during my appointment, but shortly after returning home, I came down with a high fever (101.9) and chills. I was nauseous and had an upset stomach. I basically went to bed at 2pm and slept for six hours.

We are fortunate to have neighbors who are doctors and they gave advice on OTC fever medication, so I took Aleve and the fever broke around eight-thirty pm. It’s now the following afternoon, and my fever has not come back. I’m very tired and still feel “off.”

I’ve just returned from UC Health in Colorado Springs, where I was swabbed for Covid- 19. Getting the test was surprisingly easy. We made the appointment last night, and there were only a few cars ahead of us at the drive-up testing site. It took about twenty minutes total, and I should have the results within twenty-four hours.

The swab was uncomfortable. It was a sensation that is hard to describe. The swab goes pretty deep up the nose and scrapes against something squidgy. They had to swab both nostrils, each taking about 10-15 seconds. My eyes were teary and it was unpleasant, but not so much that you shouldn’t get it done, if you need it.

The hardest part of this situation was emailing my new hair stylist. She couldn’t have been nicer about it, but it was hard to tell her that she (and the other clients/other stylist) may have been exposed. Whether I have Covid or another type of virus, it really hit home these things happen. You can feel healthy in the morning, and be sick by the afternoon. You don’t know that you’re sick. It makes me feel more nervous about things opening up, even with precautions.

In other news, we had our garage floors coated this week, and Dan was finally able to organize his workshop. He was so excited. It looks awesome. I love how the bikes are mounted.

We watched Michael Winterbottom’s new film, Greed, starring Steve Coogan and Isla Fisher. Although it didn't get very high ratings, I thought it was thought-provoking and timely. Also, truly unexpected with its characters and plot twists. Coogan plays an egocentric fashion mogul, who doesn’t care or realize the impact that his influence has on others.

Lately, I’ve been reading many articles on fast-fashion, companies like H&M and Zara, Greed calls them out, especially with a slew of shocking facts about the fashion industry that are shown during the credits. Greed is book-ended with the same quote from E.M Forster’s novel, Howard’s End. Howard’s End is one of my favorite books ( the film version is a favorite too,) and the quote deals with the idea that everyone makes choices that impacts the lives of others.

Last weekend, I wrote several new pages for my novel, and I had a zoom meeting with my writer’s group. I’m feeling really good about making progress towards life long goals this year. Despite all that is happening, great things are going on in 2020.

I’ll end with two cute picture of Tom. Dan took the one of Tom on the stairs, and the second one, I took when Tom climbed into my office cupboard.

Los Angeles Central Library Tour: October 2018

As part of my five-day “Hometown Tourist” agenda, I took the Downtown LA Walking Tour’s Architecture Tour. It was led by the founder of the tour company, Neel; who is a personable, knowledgable guide with an infectious love for Los Angeles.

The tour encompassed many parts of Los Angeles, but for this post, I’m going to focus on the library portion of the tour

It was a small group tour, only five other people and we met in the mid- morning in the libraries’ Maguire Gardens. The Central Library is located right across from the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, where we were staying, so this tour’s meeting place couldn’t have been more convenient.

I have to confess that I had never visited the library. The closest I came was back in 2000, when I dined at Cafe Pinot, an upscale restaurant located adjacent to the library. It’s a real shame that I didn’t discover the library earlier in my life, especially when it was so close to my childhood home. It’s a truly gorgeous library.

I was thirty-minutes early for the tour and the Maguire Garden was practically empty. I enjoyed the many unusual art installations and sat down on a park bench to read a book. It’s a peaceful place in the middle of the city. Shortly after returning home from this trip, I tutored an ESL student who called me on his phone from the Maguire Gardens. He had an English lesson while on his lunch break. It made me homesick for Los Angeles.

The original Los Angeles Central Library was built in 1926 in an Art Deco style that was popular for the era. In 1986, the library was devastated by a fire, but part of the original structure, named the Goodhue Building still stands. The Goodhue Building was restored and an addition named after mayor Tom Bradley, was added, making this the second largest public library in the United States.

Los Angeles history is shared through large ceiling murals in the rotunda. The “Zodiac Chandelier” is a stunning Art Deco showstopper.

This sculpture, called the “Torch of Knowledge” was on top of the original library building.

Librarian Everett Robbins was responsible for the original look of the library, including the placement of the circulation desks.

The Tom Bradley wing.

Old card catalogues ( remember those?) are used as markers for library patrons. I love this idea!

Although not part of my walking tour, I went back to the library a few days later to view the temporary exhibit: 21 Collections: Every Object has a Story.

This intriguing exhibit explored the idea of people and their quirky collections. It included Tom Hank’s collection of vintage type writers. One of the more memorable collections was a woman who collected photographs of murals that are in prison visitor’s rooms. Apparently, it is common for prisoners to paint colorful murals depicting things like beach holidays, so that they can have a nice backdrop for family pictures. There was an enormous, life-size elephant made of walnut shells, that was created for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.

The library gift shop is a must-visit for bibliophiles. It is well-curated with bookish items and I could have blown my budget here. I left with a tee-shirt and a few postcards, but was tempted by much more.

The Central Library is a true treasure for locals, but it should not be missed by tourists.

I will end with this curious statement found on the exterior of the library.