Review: The Summer Seekers

 

The Summer Seekers

About the Book:

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.

My Comments:

I wonder how I am screwing up my kids and their lives.  It seems that the last batch of books I've read seem to feature young adults whose parents had been less than perfect and who caused pain to their kids. I certainly know that "less than perfect" describes me, so how am I messing up my kids' lives? 

Kathleen had been cheated on when she was young, and so protected herself by creating a life in which her job and adventures trumped her relationships, including her relationship with her daughter, Liza.  Liza in turn has created a life in which relationships came first, to the point that her family takes her for granted.  Martha has realized that what she wants in life and what her parents want for her are two different things.  In The Summer Seekers Kathleen and Martha, who are British head out on a road trip from Chicago to California.  As they travel Kathleen thinks back on her life and the choices she made.  She also realizes that her time to make changes is getting shorter.

Liza, due to some things her mother says to her on the way to the airport, decides to take some time to decide what she wants in life.  I enjoyed watching her spread her wings.  Like me, Liza was the mom of kids about ready to leave the nest.  

Usually when I think of a "road trip", I think of a trip by car where the journey is part of the fun---not just a way to get from Point A to Point B.  It's a great metaphor for life--we are all headed from birth to death--but at a lot of intersections we get to pick which way to go, and those choices, whether good or bad, make us who we are.  

I enjoyed this book and getting to know Martha, Liza and Kathleen (and yes, there are romance sub-plots but this is really a book about the women) and recommend it.  Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley.  Grade:  A