THE SUMMERHOUSE by Jude Deveraux

Three women are given a chance to change their future by reliving their pasts….

Madison Appleby, Ellie Abbot, and Leslie Hendrick met once, on the day of their shared twenty-first birthday. Now, each turning forty, they have regrets, things in their pasts that they wonder “what if." Madison wonders about her life if she hadn’t returned to Roger, if she’d pursued the modeling career she once had. Ellie is angry over her divorce, the way her ex-husband wiped out her will to write. And Leslie loves her family but her husband has been the only man in her life ever. What if she’d pursued that spring break trip with a man who is now a possible Presidential hopeful? Madame Zoya offers each of these women a choice.  What will they decide?

The beginning circumstances of THE SUMMERHOUSE seemed a bit far fetched to me. After all, what are the odds that three women who once shared an afternoon at the DMV would reunite nineteen years later? However, Jude Deveraux makes the concept work.

On the surface, Ellie, Madison, and Leslie are somewhat unlikable, each caught up in their own depressing circumstances. However, it is their willingness to see their own faults with startling honesty and clarity that makes them rise above their current situations. In fact, by the end of THE SUMMERHOUSE, I was sorry to leave the three women. I wanted to see more of the glow that now surrounded them, hear more of how their trips to the past changed their lives forever. What talent Jude Deveraux has to transform these three women in such a believable manner!

THE SUMMERHOUSE has a deeper theme than just the choices the three women make. Jude Deveraux has written a story about finding one’s self and remaining true to that inner flame. In fact, THE SUMMERHOUSE is actually quite inspiring as the overall message is a very positive one, empowering women to make better choices for themselves rather than focusing solely on the men in their lives. THE SUMMERHOUSE is an interesting read and one that reminds me as to why Jude Deveraux is considered one of “the greats” in the genre.

Rating: 4

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