A “captivating and bittersweet” novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Summer of ‘69: Their secret love affair has lasted for decades–but this could be the summer that changes everything (People). When Mallory Blessing’s son, Link, receives deathbed instructions from his mother to call a number on a slip of paper in her desk drawer, he’s not sure what to expect. But he certainly … he’s not sure what to expect. But he certainly does not expect Jake McCloud to answer. It’s the late spring of 2020 and Jake’s wife, Ursula DeGournsey, is the frontrunner in the upcoming Presidential election.
There must be a mistake, Link thinks. How do Mallory and Jake know each other?
Flash back to the sweet summer of 1993: Mallory has just inherited a beachfront cottage on Nantucket from her aunt, and she agrees to host her brother’s bachelor party. Cooper’s friend from college, Jake McCloud, attends, and Jake and Mallory form a bond that will persevere–through marriage, children, and Ursula’s stratospheric political rise–until Mallory learns she’s dying.
Based on the classic film Same Time Next Year (which Mallory and Jake watch every summer), 28 Summers explores the agony and romance of a one-weekend-per-year affair and the dramatic ways this relationship complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love.
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Elin Hildebrand never dissappoints. Based on the movie, Same Time, Next Year, this is a modern re-telling set on Nantucket. Fast, entertaining read
From the opening few pages, I was hooked and I couldn’t put this book down. In the end, it wrecked me. I wanted Mallory to get her happily ever after so badly. Every character in this book was flawed, but so are we all. Have a box of tissues ready for this one.
The story is about a couple who have a ‘same time next year’ relationship that lasts for their adulthood. i could see it at first, but as the time went on it didn’t make any sense to me. No one is willing to live like that. So an interesting premise but not totally believeable.
I wanted to love this book. A great summer read, right? Well, no surprise about the ending of this story because that is made clear right at the start. Mallory is on her death bed. For the sake of the length of this book, ultimately I was so glad she was only 51 years old!
The “same time next year” theme isn’t new. But, wow, these two had every chance to actually be together. Seems crazy that they didn’t just make it legal.
I will admit, I felt a little teary at the end but again, perplexed that they gave up the chance to have more than 28 long weekends a year and a death bed visit together. Not sorry I read it but way too long to spend on it.
Elin Hilderbrand has done it again. Her newest novel, 28 Summers is definitely one of the best yet. It perhaps edges out Winter in Paradise as my favorite simply because it’s a stand alone and Winter in Paradise is forcing me to read a whole trilogy.
This story opens with 19-year-old Link, receiving deathbed instructions from his mother to call the number in an envelope in her drawer, only for him to discover the number belongs to the likely next “Second Gentleman” of the United States, Jake. From there, the story backtracks over twenty years, tracking each of Mallory’s and Jake’s years in the “Same Time, Next Year” arrangement–they spend Labor Day, every year, together, and do not speak the rest of the year. Each chapter opens with a summary of pop culture and worldly references to put us in the right mindset for each year (think song lyrics, celebrity scandals, world catastrophes, new technology) that give me such a flashback and are perfectly well done. We get brief snippets of Mallory and Jake’s major life events each year along with their Labor Day weekend. But as Jake’s wife, Ursula, begins to rise through the political rankings, will Mallory and Jake’s arrangement need to come to an end?
This story is touching and sweet for basically being about long-term adultery. It makes an absolutely crazy-sounding arrangement sound weirdly plausible. The characters each have their faults and charms so you don’t hate Ursula or Jake or anyone because they seem like real three-dimensional people, and real people sometimes make bad choices. This book was captivating and sucked me right in, so much so, I read nearly all of it in one day (most of it at the beach, because that seemed apt). I highly, highly recommend this book, especially if you’re new to Elin! A perfect sampling of the magic she’s capable of.
Based on the film Same Time Next Year, 28 Summers explores the romance of a one-weekend-per-year affair and the dramatic ways this relationship complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love. Jake and Mallory justify their unique relationship in their own way because it makes them happy. For 28 summers, they experience nothing but magic and everlasting love. However, there is a distinct lack of steamy passion between our once-a-year lovers. The fact that they do exactly the same thing, from eating the same meals, going to the same places and watch the same movie (Same Time, Next Year) every Labor Day weekend shows a shallow relationship, one us readers have to endure for 28 summers. It felt stale, boring.
This is only my second book from this author out of the 25 books she’s written. I thought that she was mainly a romance author but her last two books are more women’s fiction along with romance. This book is a perfect beach read where you can suspend your questions about what could have gone wrong with their yearly plans and just believe that it all worked out.
Mallory and Jake meet on Labor Day weekend 1993 in Nantucket. Jake was her brother’s best friend and even though she had talked to Jake on the phone, they’d never met. When the whole weekend goes wrong and everyone but Jake leaves, they begin a romance that will last for 28 summers but they will only meet once a year on Labor Day weekend. Each year of the 28 years is a separate chapter and each chapter starts out with what was going on in the world the year. Each chapter highlights the Labor Day weekend romance of these two. No matter what happens — marriages, romances, babies – they spend that weekend together and then say goodbye for another year. It was an interesting premise based on the movie Same Time, Next Year but their romance actually affected their entire year – it kept Mallory from having a lasting relationship with anyone else and it caused Jake not to give his marriage all of his attention because he was always thinking about Mallory. How were they able to keep this a secret from friends and family for 28 years or was their secret eventually uncovered?
What I liked about this book – I enjoyed the setting of Nantucket with the beach right outside the door and quirky restaurants in town. I enjoyed the friendship that Mallory has with her brother and with her best friend on the island. I enjoyed the love that Mallory has for her island, for her job and for her son. I also liked the chapter headings of what we were talking about that particular year.
What I didn’t like about it – You can call it a romance but it basically was adultery on Jake’s part and that didn’t seem to bother either of them. And I definitely didn’t like Mallory’s best friend when she was growing up who acted more like an enemy than a friend.
Overall, it was a fun read – perfect for a hot day on the beach.
28 Summers is the newest entry in Elin Hildebrand’s portfolio and certainly one of the best. It opens with 19-year-old Link following his mother’s instructions, discovers an envelope in the drawer with the instruction, “Please call.” In side is a phone number, no name, simply this phone number. The ensuing chapters retrace the history for the past 28 years, with the top of the paragraph recounting all the momentous things happening at the time: music, movies, politics, weather, et al. He makes the call and the man at the other end directs him to tell his mother that he is coming. “Same Time, Next Year,” was on the television the evening I went into labor with my first child. It is a good memory. This book mimics that relationship in some ways. It is a heartbreaker.
I was in tears for at least half of the book. When Link became the son of an unwed mother; when his mother, Mallory, had love affairs and other relationships; when he visited his dad and when he didn’t, who his mother never married; and when he had his own love affair. It is about life. Her life was different than my life and probably different than yours but it is the life she chose. How special is that? She was independent…what she always wanted. She was loved…also what she always wanted. This story will break your heart. It did mine. This review does not do 28 Summers justice. I don’t have the words. I recommend it.
I received a free ARC of 28 Summers from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #28summers
Mixed feelings on this book. The good: The yearly list current events was a fun walk down memory lane. Likable characters. A chronicle of the lives of “normal” people with successes, mistakes, yearnings, satisfaction, etc. The various machinations employed to keep Labor Day weekend free for one other person year after year. The bad: Two unattached adults who fall in love choose to restrict their relationship to one weekend per year without a good reason. Adultery … they know it’s wrong and yet, it’s right? Some of the events (like multiple marriages for the main character’s brother) are a bit contrived to make certain contacts occur. It’s a long book to cover 28 summers and past background. Bottom line: The main characters are “nice” people, but lack the commitment that makes a relationship special. And adultery is never right. It is a landmine of pain…which the book fails to address.
Elin, you had me at Nantucket. I’d already fallen in love with the island, a glorious 30 miles offshore, while reading Nantucket Nights on a ferry ride over. This trip was entirely between the pages. At first, I didn’t want to like Mallory or go along with her relationship with Jake. But there was something about them that made me want to engage. 28 Summers flew by, like life does if we don’t stop once in a while to take a step back. I loved the ride. Felt like I grew a few gray hairs because of their relationship. But I loved it. Thank you.
I thought the subject matter was terrible, but well written. I did finish it, but felt yuckey after. I didn’t like the 2 main characters at all. I book about a yearly hook up. Really? Nobody wins in this situation. Sappy ending. Elin Hildebrand can and has done better.
In eighteenth-century novels about “the grand passion,” like Roussea’s 1761 novel La Novelle Heloise (the title refers to the Abelard-Heloise adulterous affair), that grand passion could not take place in marriage, which was rational and pragmatic. It took place outside of marriage and was both heavenly and sinful. Though Elin Hilderbrand may not have read La Nouvelle Heloise, this tradition is played with in her 2020 novel 28 Summers. (Her inspiration was the 1978 film Same Time, Next Year.) Two admirable individuals, Mallory and the married Jake, have an idyllic, passionate affair, meeting at her Nantucket cottage every Labor Day weekend, with no contact in between, for 28 years. Mallory’s friend Leland learns of this late in the game and, using pseudonyms, writes in her widely-read blog about the set-up: “At first I was scandalized …However, the more I ruminated . . . the more I think it sounds kind of …heavenly.” . The blog goes on to ask, “Is monogamy in long marriages an unrealistic expectation?…Is it possible that a short, tidy affair like the one ‘Violet’ enjoys the answer?” Reading the blog, Jake’s wife Ursula indeed thinks she’d like that kind of setup with her former lover Anders. “If Anders were alive and Ursula could pull this off, she would come back to Jake and Bess [their daughter] feeling so . . . refreshed, so energized, so grateful.” (p. 342).
There’s much more in this 400-plus-page novel—many characters, many points of view, a lot to keep track of, especially if you’re reading this on the beach. And I appreciate Hilderbrand’s efforts to keep the two main characters both sympathetic and credible, drawing on many actual historical events from those 28 years as background, as well as from her own rich life. Still, although I enjoyed the novel, I’m not sure it worked for me. If Jake and Mallory were that much in love, I couldn’t accept why they didn’t they marry when they were young and single. I was impressed by the novel nonetheless. In the Acknowledgements, Hilderbrand tells us that she writes two novels a year and is the mother of three. How does she do it?
I love the author, but in this case but the characters in this are beyond flawed to me. If you’re hoping Same Time, Next Year, you will not find it here. Alan Alda has left the building and took Ellen Burstyn with him.
Definitely a good read, but left you always wanting more. It was almost a little depressing and felt a little blah.
Elin Hilderbrand’s novels seem to be hit or miss with me, but one thing you can count on – they’re always a guilty pleasure. The story, featuring two lovers who have a standing date to spend one weekend a year together, references the play/movie “Same Time Next Year,” but “28 Summers” is vintage Hilderbrand. Vivid, laundry-list descriptions, hipster characters, themes of infidelity, brisk pacing, multiple points of view, and that Nantucket setting — they’re all here. Three decades of Labor Day weekends threatens to be a tedious slog, but the author applies a wider scope to the narrative, and at times what seem like episodic tangents that get dropped end up having consequences as you wonder, will they or won’t they get caught? A tender but teary ending that, while telegraphed at the opening, still manages to emotionally satisfy.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this story. It was a book club pick, so all I knew was the blurb and a couple of reviews I read (as our group voted on the book choices).
It isn’t a story I’d typically pick as it is clear from the beginning this will be a sad one. In the first chapter, we know the main characters will never end up together, and one of them is dying (I’m not giving away anything, this is in the blurb). Plus, the romance involves a married man. I wasn’t sure I could like either of the main characters. My worry was the author would either make the wife cardboard cut-out bad so we could accept the affair. Or she’d make her likable, making me dislike the couple.
Instead, I was given a nostalgic and intriguing story about the complexities of love and life. Nothing is simple in the real world; we live in the gray areas, a mix of good and bad. This was shown with the main characters, Jack and Mallory, and the many side ones.
This story pulled me in, made me think, laugh, and tear up. Overall, I enjoyed it immensely.
I cried so bad at the ending. Incredible book no matter what season you read it in. I could see myself rereading this.
What a fabulous read! Mallory & Jake have known each other since college days & when they get together at her cottage on Nantucket for her brother’s bachelor party, sparks fly. They fall in love & continue to meet once a year, every year, on Labor Day weekend. Jake marries his childhood sweetheart, Mallory remains single with the occasional lover. Jake’s wife Ursula has a daughter. Mallory has a son, fathered by a friend of her brother’s. Throughout all of this, Jake & Mallory continue to meet once a year, for unforgettable weekends. But life has a funny way of working out & that is just what happens to Jake & Mallory.
I loved this book & very strongly recommend it to anyone. Thank you to Netgalley, the author Elin Hildebrand & the publisher Hodder & Stoughton for the ebook I received in return for an honest review.
A beautiful retelling of Same Time Next Year. Elin Hilderbrand’s mastery of writing richly developed characters is on full display in this wonderful novel. I loved it! In fact, I may just read it again. Highly recommend!
I loved this book and the characters. They were very well-developed. They were perfectly, imperfect. They were real. I hope that there is a sequel focusing on developing the adultish-children and their similar interests and where life heads next for these characters. I hated for this book to end. It would make a great movie.