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Mele’s Musings: Friendship forged with ketchup and cameras

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Injuries continue to mount for Penn State

<p>Right after Labor Day Weekend, I spent a few days in Stone Harbor, a Jersey shore town. Of course, this called for a beachy read, and Meg Donohue&#8217;s &#8220;All the Summer Girls&#8221; fit the bill.</p><p>The story follows a trio of friends: Kate, Vanessa and Dani who, in their late 20s, face new challenges, as well as trauma from their shared pasts.</p><p>The women met as kids at Philadelphia Friends School, where they became fast friends, spending all their time together. Every summer, they would visit Avalon, New Jersey, where Dani&#8217;s father had a house. The beach became the center of their lives, until the summer when they were 21.</p><p>That year, they spent the entire summer in Avalon, in a little cottage they rented together. The summer was supposed to celebrate their friendship and their last year of college. However, their time ended tragically when Kate&#8217;s twin brother, Colin, died.</p><p>His death fractured the girls&#8217; relationship. Dani and Vanessa had a horrible fight not long after Colin died, which drove them apart, while Kate tried to be the peacekeeper.</p><p>Now, at 28, they lead separate lives. Kate still lives in Philadelphia, where she is engaged to a nice guy named Peter. She&#8217;s a classic type A personality who still struggles with the loss of her twin. Vanessa is a stay at home mother in New York City, reeling from learning that her husband kissed another woman and struggling to find meaning in her life without a job. Dani is in San Francisco, failing to hold down a succession of jobs while trying to write a novel and indulging in drinking and drugs.</p><p>Three months before Kate&#8217;s wedding, Peter ends their relationship. Right after, she learns that she is pregnant, a secret she keeps from everyone. At the same time, Dani is fired from yet another job and, facing financial issues, has to return home. Vanessa simply needs a break from motherhood and her cheating husband. They decide to cancel Kate&#8217;s bachelorette weekend in Vegas and instead go to Avalon.</p><p>The trip dredges up painful memories for them, but also allows them to spend more time with each other than they have in years.</p><p>The women eventually share their current dramas, as well as secrets about what happened the night Colin died. Each of them played a part in his death that they have kept from the others for all these years.</p><p>Throughout the book, each woman has a chance to tell her own story. The perspectives rotate from Kate to Vanessa to Dani, slowly revealing how they met and became friends, the role Colin played in their lives, and what issues they are now facing.</p><p>Their friendship feels very authentic. While the women are all very different from one another, the bonds between them are strong, despite the ups and downs they have faced. Ultimately, they are always there for one another.</p><p>Their friendship allows them each to grow as a person. Each draws on the other women&#8217;s strength: to turn away from drugs, to share the pregnancy, and to decide what it is that she wants from the future.</p><p>While none of the storylines are resolved in a cookie cutter manner, it is clear they have used their weekend together as a foundation for improving their respective lives. Avalon will always be magical to them, and yet there is something more magical about their friendship, which helps them to heal past and current wounds.</p><p>&#8220;All the Summer Girls&#8221; was a great beach read. It&#8217;s officially fall now, but there are still some warm days left. Grab this book on a sunny day and lose yourself in Kate, Vanessa and Dani&#8217;s lives.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dorothy Sasso</p><p>On the Books</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>&#8220;All the Summer Girls&#8221;</p><p>Author: Meg Donohue</p><p>Page Count: 288</p><p>Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks</p><p>Rating: &#9830;&#9830;&#9830; 1/2</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Dorothy Sasso is a former Soap Opera Digest writer and a private school teacher. She is busy reading books and raising her daughter.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

On the Books: Take ‘All the Summer Girls’ into fall for a good read