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A popular writer of quintessential women's fiction, Luanne Rice's novels have been
picked up for the Hallmark Hall of Fame and productions by TNT and CBS. Will SUMMER LIGHT,
her latest foray into romantic realism, warrant equal exposure?
The protagonist is a single parent who comes from a long line of strong female
entrepreneurs. In spite of this, her independence occasionally flags, like it does for
most women who are working on overcoming their pasts. That she allows her new husband to
do all the driving is endearing because we never want our heroines to be too perfect.
Well, OK, maybe it's annoying, too, because a woman with the wherewithal to run her own
business and raise her daughter by herself should have grown up a bit more. After all, we
aren't living in the '70s any more.
This is a book I loved one minute and hated the next. It is a story about relationships
and about how they are destroyed. It shows how closing down feelings corrodes love, and
how we are nourished by faith, and kindness, and familial ties. Nothing wrong with that,
right? But then it gets all sugary in spots, and the ending is a bit of a cop-out.
Still, the characters in SUMMER LIGHT are well-rounded, and it has enough story threads to
keep the pages turning. It is well-grounded, too. There are pictures enough of Canada and
New England in the fall to please the most visual of directors looking for a new
production. There are sports, celebrity, angels, faith, clairvoyance, weddings, love, and
independent women of all ages. In other words, there's something for everyone and a part
for everyone, from Nick Nolte to Penelope Cruz. Maybe that's the problem. It is just all
too, too made-for-the-movies.
On the other hand, those pages didn't turn by magic. Someone had to do it and that someone
was up until one in the morning, waiting to see how these relationships would resolve
themselves. The title is apt. It is light summer reading.
--- Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson (www.tlt.com/authors/carolynhowardjohnson.htm)
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of THIS IS THE PLACE, an award-winning work of
fiction published by AmErica House.
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