Happy Weekend readers! I always find myself finishing up books on Thursdays and ready for a new read by Friday. This week I read the amazing Wendy Francis’, The Summer of Good Intentions. Not only did I love this book but I had a personal connection to it as well. In this book one of the characters gets diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, something I have had for the last 8 years. I am super healthy, something I attribute to a positive attitude and lifestyle, and one wouldn’t even know that I had it. I like to think that I have MS but yet MS does not have me. I loved that this story focused on the importance of relying on family and friends for strength when we are dealt a bad hand, as this has always been the case for me.
The Summer of Good Intention takes place on Cape Cod. It’s summer and Maggie, Jess and Virgie are more than ready for some vacation time with their families as each sister is facing their own problems. Maggie, is happily married with great kids but is at a point in her life where she can’t let go of the fact that she will not have any more children. She gathers information on adoption and decides that this vacation will be a great time to bring it up with her husband. Jess is at a crossroads in her marriage and feels as though the love is gone. She goes on this vacation with an affair on her mind. With two great kids she knows she has done wrong but isn’t sure her marriage can survive. And then there is Virgie who left her amazing boyfriend home and knows this vacation is exactly what she needs. She is taking a break from a stressful career that she thinks is having a strain on her health. Aside from all the sisters and their issues, there are their parents, Gloria and Arthur. Gloria decides this trip would be the perfect time to introduce a new man to her family while Arthur just wants to keep the traditions going from the vacations past, if only he can remember them.
Wendy Francis
This story has all the main ingredients for a perfect summer read. You will laugh and cry while Francis weaves together family, love, tragedy and triumph all together for a memorable story. The characters will last with me not just for the personal connection but because they are people who you know in your every day life, people you can relate to. I am so happy that Francis brought some awareness to the MS community as well. This is a disease that affects thousands of people everyday and the more awareness we can bring to it the closer we will be to a cure. I am so happy to say this is my eighth “Blissful Beach Bag” pick. Happy reading and soak up these last dog days of summer!
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