The book that I am reading is called “the Summerhouse” by Jude Deveraux. Two years ago I read “The return to the Summerhouse” and I absolutely loved it so I had to read the first one too. So the story which I have only began today talks about these three beautiful young girls that have met on their birthday at the New York DMV where they went to all get their licenses. That day was as I said for all three girls their 21st birthday and they were put by the man that works there to sit together and wait until he did mistakes on their licenses to keep them waiting. Apparently he liked the view, one of them Leslie was a dancer and had a body to die for; the second one Ellie was cute and sweet and was ready to take over the world with her art, lastly Madison the most beautiful girl in the planet earth that wanted to try her luck in New York as a model. Nineteen years later Ellie, turned out depressed and her therapist begged her to go with these two women to her summerhouse so she can spent her 40th birthday with them, since she had no one else. As the girls meet for the first time they start competing who had the worst 19 years and who is the most miserable.
While I was reading today I could very easily picture the moment where Ellie entered last the summerhouse and found her two guests under a tree talking quietly and drinking lemonade. I don’t know, but it reminded me of the way I would love to be, I love lemonades and I love to sit in the shade and it was very easy for me to get the picture. Also Ellie before going out to join them, stood behind the window where they couldn’t see her and studied each woman carefully, describing them with lots of details and trying to feel better about herself because she isn’t the only one looking bad. I could very easily imagine her staring and studying the two women that she once admired, but turned out to change as much as she did. I like studying people too and if I could I would sit around all day around a bunch of people and just watch them.
I can connect with Madison the most from the three girls. Ellie was describing the story that she told them, and Madison had a boyfriend all through high school and they had made a plan to go together to college and then get married. But her mother was diagnosed with cancer so she didn’t go to college and 4 years after her once boyfriend came back with a fiancée! I can relate to that because, I myself feel like I found the love of my life and I know it sounds stupid but for me this is it, and even though I know that we won’t go to college together or get married, I don’t want to have any other boyfriend and just like Madison, I give everything to him without waiting for something in return. And I think that, just like Madison lost him forever, I will someday too, and I kind of understand why she had so much pain in her eyes.
The part of the book that I have most difficulty understanding is when the girls talk about marriage, I really don’t understand what they mean by being bored with each other or why they don’t get excited with their husband anymore. I mean, when I hear women saying that their husband doesn’t touch them anymore or that they got bored of each other or that they cheat and stuff, it really bothers me, because I think that when you are crazy for someone and you got to see their bad and their good side and you love them for the bad and the good, then how can you stop loving them and having fun with them? Also I find really interesting relationships between two people, ‘cause just like you can never predict what the human mind could come up with, you can never know someone completely, there will always be something that will surprise you, and for me that’s what a marriage has to rely on, those small beautiful things that your other half might do and surprise you. The unknown is always exciting and either is bad or good everyone likes it, isn’t that why married people cheat? Because they know each other too well, so they don’t get excited with each other after some time. That’s what I really can’t connect with.
Something that I “do” that reminds me of the characters is that I have two best friends as well, and I feel so confident with them and I can tell them everything. And sometimes when we don’t meet for a while, we sit down and we compete which one has the worst news! Also when Ellie was feeling awful that she had the worse 19 years of her life but then she felt good because the other girls did too, I do that sometimes too. When I have really bad news or when I have a problem with my boyfriend I run to my two best friends and when they tell me that they had that problem before or that they heard other girls having similar problems, then I feel much better, because I don’t feel like my relationship is abnormal!
The writer uses a lot of imagery, she describes everything in so much detail that sometimes I get annoyed because I really want to find out what’s going on but everything is moving too slowly. But on the other hand I enjoy the details; I can create a better and more complete image in my head. For example when Ellie was describing Madison: “This one was beautiful, so beautiful, in fact, that Ellie had to blink a couple of times to be sure she was seeing correctly. The woman was at least six feet tall and she was quite thin, but thin in a way that made you want to look at her. And she was beautiful. No, there had to be a term that didn’t sound so run-of-the-mill. There were lots of women who were beautiful, but this one was…was… Well, she was perfection” pg. 26. In this passage the writer uses a lot of repetition, hyperboles and imagery. She was exaggerating about Madison’s beauty a bit too much! Another literary feature that she uses is allusion: “Sort of like Goldie Hawn.” pg. 32. This is a reference to a well known person outside of the story.
The plot of my story is very realistic, I mean it’s very common for girls and women to be in groups of three, and to talk about their problems and their lives together and give their condolence to one another, for some unfortunate events. But for other exciting events they laugh and celebrate together. Also there are many women who give up their lives just to please and look after a man that says he loves them but it’s just using their kindness for his own good, just what Madison’s husband did to her. And I know that many women have been accused for their success by their husbands just like Ellie, when she used to be a best seller writer, her husband made her extremely guilty about her success. So I think that every woman can relate somehow to one of these three women.
I would like to have Madison as my friend, even though some girls wouldn’t want to because she is pretty and all the guys would like her, but she is more than pretty. Usually pretty girls are stupid and snobbish but she is a truly kind and nice person and I really like her. She helped her mother when she had cancer and she left behind her education and her boyfriend, just to nurse her sick mother. Not many girls would do that, especially is they were beautiful and head cheerleaders! But Madison has a heart and she has ethics and morals and doesn’t judge people from their appearance. I would like her to be my friend so I could have advised her to not leave modeling and go back to that jerk, Roger, who gave up on her when she was looking after her mother. I would advise her to go back to collage when her mother had died and I would give her enough money to be a doctor just like she always wanted and I would advise her to find a good guy like her, that would love her for how good she is and then for how pretty she is!
In the next section I read I think that Ellie will tell her story in more details and then later Leslie will. But I cannot predict what’s going to happen when they all tell their stories; because this author always surprises the readers and I can never predict what’s going on next. But I do hope that Madison will quit smoking all day long, because she is getting uglier and older from smoking, and I hope that Ellie will do something to lose the extra weight she gained. Also I want Leslie to divorce her snob husband and rebuilt her summerhouse.
If I could jump right now in the story I would sit beside the girls, sip some wine and listen to their stories, I would ask a lot of questions, and I would not make them feel bad for what they have been through. I don’t think they won’t someone to feel bad and sorry for them, I think they just want someone to listen to them. Also I would push Ellie to write all of their stories down and make more bestselling books with their stories. Since so many more women are going through what they’ve went through by that they can give to other women the power to change and lift their heads up and do something for themselves.
