The Last Summer (of You and Me) - by Ann Brashares (Paperback)

About the Book

From the "New York Times"-bestselling author of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" comes a glorious novel of unrequited love, longing and the meaning of friendship (Adriana Trigiani, "New York Times"-bestselling author of the Big Stone Gap novels).

Book Synopsis

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Ann Brashares comes her first adult novel

In the town of Waterby on Fire Island, the rhythms and rituals of summer are sacrosanct: the ceremonial arrivals and departures by ferry; yacht club dinners with terrible food and breathtaking views; the virtual decree against shoes; and the generational parade of sandy, sun-bleached kids, running, swimming, squealing, and coming of age on the beach.

Set against this vivid backdrop, The Last Summer (of You and Me) is the enchanting, heartrending story of a beach-community friendship triangle and summertime romance among three young adults for whom summer and this place have meant everything. Sisters Riley and Alice, now in their twenties, have been returning to their parents' modest beach house every summer for their entire lives. Petite, tenacious Riley is a tomboy and a lifeguard, always ready for a midnight swim, a gale-force sail, or a barefoot sprint down the beach. Beautiful Alice is lithe, gentle, a reader and a thinker, and worshipful of her older sister. And every summer growing up, in the big house that overshadowed their humble one, there was Paul, a friend as important to both girls as the place itself, who has now finally returned to the island after three years away. But his return marks a season of tremendous change, and when a simmering attraction, a serious illness, and a deep secret all collide, the three friends are launched into an unfamiliar adult world, a world from which their summer haven can no longer protect them.

Ann Brashares has won millions of fans with her blockbuster series, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, in which she so powerfully captured the emotional complexities of female friendship and young love. With The Last Summer (of You and Me), she moves on to introduce a new set of characters and adult relationships just as true, endearing, and unforgettable. With warmth, humor, and wisdom, Brashares makes us feel the excruciating joys and pangs of love--both platonic and romantic. She reminds us of the strength and sting of friendship, the great ache of loss, and the complicated weight of family loyalty. Thoughtful, lyrical, and tremendously moving, The Last Summer (of You and Me) is a deeply felt celebration of summer and nostalgia for youth.

Review Quotes

?A vivid elegy for youth...Brashares is wise as well as sentimental. She sagely remembers just how it feels to be young, lost, and in love. "The Last Summer (of You and Me)" is a weeper: If you don?t grow misty there's something a bit shifty about the state of your heart.?
?"The Miami Herald"
?Natural, insightful, and affecting. A-.?
?"Entertainment Weekly"
?Get out your handkerchiefs. A perfect summer novel.?
?"The Vancouver Sun"
?"The Last Summer" is as much a treatise on loyalty and letting go of childish ways as it is on a summer of love.?
?"USA Today"
?An unputdownable beach book calls for love, deceit, and sex. And "The Last Summer (of You and Me)."..has all those elements.?
?"Cosmopolitan"
?Would do nicely under a beach umbrella.?
?"The New York Times"
?Compelling...steeped in the familiar longings for lost time that readers seeking the carefree pleasure of a summer will enjoy.?
?Kim Edwards, "The Washing

aA vivid elegy for youth...Brashares is wise as well as sentimental. She sagely remembers just how it feels to be young, lost, and in love. "The Last Summer (of You and Me)" is a weeper: If you donat grow misty thereas something a bit shifty about the state of your heart.a
a"The Miami Herald"
aNatural, insightful, and affecting. A-.a
a"Entertainment Weekly"
aGet out your handkerchiefs. A perfect summer novel.a
a"The Vancouver Sun"
a"The Last Summer" is as much a treatise on loyalty and letting go of childish ways as it is on a summer of love.a
a"USA Today"
aAn unputdownable beach book calls for love, deceit, and sex. And "The Last Summer (of You and Me),.".has all those elements.a
a"Cosmopolitan"
aWould do nicely under a beach umbrella.a
a"The New York Times"
aCompelling...steeped in the familiar longings for lost time that readers seeking the carefree pleasure of a summer will enjoy.a
aKim Edwards, "The Washington Post"
aAnn Brasharesas new book will delight all of her "Traveling Pants" fansanow grown-up and ready for this very adult novel of love, loss and the beauty of intense family bonds.a
aAnita Shreve, "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Pilotas Wife" and "A Wedding in December"
aFunny, deep and true, this one will keep you reading long after the sun has gone down.a
aAdriana Trigiani, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Big Stone Gap" and "Lucia, Lucia"

About the Author

Ann Brashares is the author of the phenomenal five-million-copies-selling series of young adult novels, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Girls In Pants, and Forever in Blue, and the New York Times bestselling adult novel The Last Summer (of You and Me).