Summer in the South - Cathy Holton

Summer in the South
By Cathy Holton

Summer in the South was a perfect transition book. You would think it would be best as a Summer read, (it is in the title after all) but as the weather turned to Fall I found this book to be the perfect companion.

Ava didn’t exactly have the “perfect” childhood and she tries to sort the messier parts of it out while writing her first novel. An old college friend invites her to a small town in Tennessee, where she can stay with his family on their huge estate. There she finds more of a story than she was expecting. I think this line is actually a wonderful summarization of the story:

“She could imagine herself holed up in a little cabin like his mother’s, overlooking a wide sweep of rolling hills, churning out novels about people who understood the joys of living in a place where nothing ever happened. If you didn’t count murder, tragedy, undying love, and familial revenge.”
-page 314

I have to say, my favorite part of the story was where she really got into the writing. I loved reading about her process and wondering if it at all mirrored Holton’s. Of course, I’ll admit it was fun to imagine getting away to a mansion with so much history, a love interest and all you had to do was write.

I was intrigued from the beginning in a calm and steady way that was refreshing. There were moments when Holton seemed to be trying to be vague and it just made the story a bit confusing but there was so much more that grabbed me and kept me interested. There was also some hilarious insight and I will leave you with one of my favorite lines…

“’You reach a point in your life where you have to make a decision. Do you stay with the wild and sexy boyfriend, the one who makes your pulse race and your heart pound, or do you settle for the guy who will always pay the mortgage?’ Her eyes were wide, tragic. ‘Do you settle for regular orgasms or money in the bank?’”
-page 181

**Source: From author for review