I flew through this book - I would give a 3.5. The story line and historical parts were captivating but as many state, it was hard to follow all the characters. Too many points of view.

Summertime is the powerful, emotive, tension filled début from Vanessa Lafaye. Like the hurricane that is almost a character itself in this book, the story picks you up, holds you in its grip and spits you back out only after it has put you through one hell of a ride. Right from the gator incident in the opening chapter you know you are in for a frightfully good read. This book is different to anything I have read before as the author was brave to take on so many issues for her first book and handle them in such a manner that you came out rooting for almost all of the characters. In Vanessa Lafaye I think we have found the new queen of building a dramatic, action packed, suspenseful novel that grips you from beginning to end. The historical note at the beginning was welcome and gave me a nice bit of background information as to what was going on in the Florida Keys in the 1930's at the time as I had never read anything set in this period before.

The author writes so beautifully and moves the book along at a rapid pace, instantly you are transported to the humid, muggy, sweltering Heron Key where racial injustice lives uneasily alongside the well to do whites. Not forgetting the war veterans isolated on their squalid camp building a bridge the government have given the go ahead to. Their presence in the town makes the residents uneasy. The horrors of the war are still imprinted on these men and many have turned to alcohol as a means of escape. The overwhelming feeling I got from this book was one of oppression - of the blacks, of the war veterans and weird as it made sound the heat and approaching hurricane. The whole way through the book despite it's many storylines is just tension filled as the residents wait for this major storm which may or may not hit their town. Whilst preparing for the hurricane they have to deal with many ongoing issues and towards the end put their differences aside to work for all their greater good. This book is literally like a pressure cooker waiting to explode and the author does such a good job that you are on the edge of your seat both outraged at some of the carry on of people but hopeful the storm will pass by and leave people to begin building relationships and breaking down barriers.

Admittedly I did find at the beginning there were many characters to get to know and the story did jump from place to place. I felt the author was trying to fit too much in to start with. But once I got to know Missy, Selma, Henry, Hilda, Dwayne and everyone else I found I was lost in their lives and was intent on discovering what fate had in store for them. So much happens throughout this book it is impossible to go into detail. A wide range of issues are covered the most important being the racial tensions at the time. The whites and blacks are kept separate on the beach and blacks are served at the back door of the shop. That literally made my mouth drop how did people endure such blatant disregard and hatred towards them? Not being able to eat at the same diner as white people and being made to feel like a second class citizen must have been awful to endure. An incident in the shelter at the onset of the storm made me very angry and the open hostility and menace towards Missy and her family was just mind boggling. Alongside the racial storyline and the problems with the veterans was the mystery of Hilda Kincaid's murder which only serves to heighten the overhanging feeling of impending disaster for everyone. Of course some romance was thrown in and I did wonder if this book needed that but in the end I realised it helped the book come full circle.

The description of the hurricane and it's devastating impact was utterly mind blowing. You could feel it's mighty force and power as it touched land and destroyed the landscape, people's homes and hearts. It put all the characters problems to one side as mother nature reared her ugly head almost in retaliation for all the things the residents of Heron Key had done. I couldn't read quick enough as page after page of horror and devastation was described in such phenomenal detail that normally would put me off a book. In this case the author had done a fantastic job of setting the scene, developing the story lines and the characters that she just let rip as everything came to a head. Yes it is very hard to read what happens and you will need tissues, she does go into graphic detail but if she hadn't it would have been a let down as so much time and effort had been put into making the reader care about the characters and the outcome. I wanted certain people to get their come comeuppance and others to be seriously hurt or die. Yes it's horrible to say that but some of them were just utterly ruthless and shameful. 'An irritable wind had sprung up to worry the washing on the line' is a line that sums up just what happens in this book. It's more than a wind that puts the worries and concerns to the forefront of the minds of the people living in Heron Key. Vanessa Lafaye has done a stellar job in making me more aware of the social history of America and confirming what a skilled author she is. God this woman has a way with words that has left me utterly captivated by this story.

This was gripping, edge of your seat stuff where your heart was literally in your mouth for the second half of the book. Vanessa Lafaye has packed an awful lot into her first novel that makes you think where will she take us next. She is a powerhouse and a bright new talent that will earn legions of fans with this book. No words can do this brilliant book justice, it's an unputdownable must read. Go buy it now.

Summertime is incredibly well written. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this tense while reading a book. The first half took me a while to get into but the last half was so descriptive that you actually felt like you could be there. The hurricane destruction was terrifying and so sad

Very powerful, slightly undecided on rating.

A wonderfully moving book of a terrifying storm

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy. Really appreciated - as soon as I saw the book and read the blurb I was keen to read it.

The backdrop of the story is a devastating hurricane (I'd never heard of it but the 'real' story is told by the author in the final pages), and as you read references are made to the barometer changing, which indicates a storm is brewing. This also reflects the general mood of the time. Set in 1930s Florida at the time of racial tensions, this books tells the story of an attack on a white woman, and the assumption is that it is by a black man. It becomes clear that what was first thought might not be correct and I really liked how the story unfolded.

I studied American History at university and so was aware that during WW1 black and white men fought on the same battlefields. They fought in different troops but there was a new level of acceptance. What I probably was less aware of was what happened when the troops returned home. Along with the impending hurricane, there is also the backdrop of The Great Depression, which left most struggling. Many of the troops were unable to work (for mental or physical reasons) and were left homeless. As a consequence of demands made on Government, work parties were organised to build roads, railways etc. One such camp was set up in this fictional town on the Florida Keys. It was effectively a shanty town, with poor sanitation etc. The camp again saw troops mixing and getting on with the job in hand. But it caused issues within the towns, as witnessed in this novel.

I was surprised, as appeared to be the author, to hear that northern Florida experienced lynchings and killings of black men, and after the "crime" was committed Henry, the black man in question, absconded with Jimmy, a white young man, as "hostage," to avoid such a fate. Henry fled north to be free, and it was interesting to see how Henry and Jimmy formed a close relationship, with Jimmy even getting Henry out of a difficult situation.

Mid-way through the book the hurricane began to take full effect. The writing is really descriptive and it must be such a scary experience. Pressures were put on the town shelter, and again there were racial tensions, and the black people fled to open train carriages to shelter. The sheer weight of wind and water meant the town shelter was destroyed and the community pulled together and had, in a way, to forget about colour, and concentrate on survival.

I enjoyed this book on a number of levels; it is very readable, and educational.

A really addictive read. The only reason it got 4 stars for me was that it ended so abruptly! I could have kept reading for another 200 pages

Set in the small town of Heron Key, Florida in 1935 everyone is preparing for the 4th of July barbecue. Missy, maid to the Kincaid family, feels she has wasted her life pining for Henry, who went to fight on the battlefields of France. Now he has returned with a group of other desperate, destitute veterans.
After the barbeque, a white woman is found badly beaten and suspicion falls on Henry. Tensions rise, just a gigantic storm heads their way.
I loved this read – it was very evocative. The descriptions of the heat, food and living conditions took me right there. And the descriptions of the hurricane were truly terrifying!
I love an historical novel and this one, based on real events, covers racial issues and tells the story of the WW1 veterans and how they were treated when they returned to America. I also love disaster films so this was the perfect book for me!