The Girls of Summer
The addictive and thought-provoking book club debut
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4.6 • 9 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
'Dark, timely and thought-provoking. It's a must-read' THE SUN
'Visceral and raw. Buy it' GLAMOUR
'Reminiscent of HBO's hit The White Lotus... The obvious read-alike is My Dark Vanessa' BOOKLIST
'Packs an incredible punch' THE TIMES
'It's set to be a big summer hit' The Independent
An idyllic island. An all-consuming romance. The best summer of your life . . .
But what if everything you remember was a lie?
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Rachel has loved Alistair since she was seventeen.
Even though she hasn't seen him for sixteen years and she's now married to someone else.
Even though she was a teenager when they met.
Even though he is almost twenty years older than her.
Now in her thirties, Rachel has never been able to forget their golden summer together on a remote, sun-trapped Greek island. But as dark and deeply suppressed memories rise to the surface, Rachel begins to understand that Alistair - and the enigmatic, wealthy man he worked for - controlled much more than she ever realized.
Rachel has never once considered herself a victim - until now.
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For fans of GIRL A, MY DARK VANESSA and LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE, The Girls of Summer is a bold compulsive exploration of sex, power and consent, and what happens when we revisit the past with rose-tinted glasses.
'Beautifully written, transportive, and thought-provoking' LUCY CLARKE, author of THE CASTAWAYS
'A mesmerising, unsettling and gripping debut' CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD, author of RUN TIME
'Thought-provoking, timely' SARAH TURNER, author of STEPPING UP
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Readers are talking about THE GIRLS OF SUMMER:
* 'In the age of #MeToo, this book is one that will ring true with so many people'
* 'Beautifully written with a tense, emotive plot that will be relatable to so many women'
* 'An excellent debut. Raw, real, and gut-wrenchingly familiar'
* 'Wow wow wow! I am still thinking about it, it's one of those stories that stays with you'
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
An intoxicating—and horrendously toxic—relationship sits at the heart of Katie Bishop’s excellent debut novel. Seventeen-year-old Rachel first meets thirtysomething Alistair while Greek island hopping, and the pair soon embark on a torrid affair that threatens to capsize her entire life. Years later, a married Rachel starts to understand the truth about Alistair’s sordid dealings and manipulative behaviour, and pops open the emotional stitches—thus unleashing the horrifying scale of the abuse she endured. Bishop skilfully dissects Alistair’s abuse of power and paints a devastating—but ultimately moving and very powerful—picture of a woman battling to make sense of her ordeal and rebuild her life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Bishop's promising first novel is a timely exploration of the way predatory older men seduce and manipulate young women. After Greek island hopping for seven weeks with her friend Caroline, 17-year-old Rachel meets 30-ish Alistair and becomes obsessed with him. Soon, Alistair invites the insecure Rachel to parties at a wealthy friend's villa with her friends, who enter into affairs that slowly descend into drug-fueled disaster. Alistair conceals his practiced procurement of women on this "orgy island"—the real-life parallels are unmistakable—with protests to Rachel that he loves her. She remains in Alistair's thrall for more than a decade, ultimately destroying her marriage to another man before shocking revelations from her friends about Alistair finally open her eyes. The sense of place is ultra-vivid, though the narrative sags at points and the characters verge on stereotypes. Still, the author's unflinching dissection of male abuse of power and the strength of female solidarity deserves attention.
Customer Reviews
The girls of summer
As an avid reader of fiction generally, I have been blown away by the talent in debut novelists in the pay few years.. many coming from the dark place of Covid loneliness.
Even so this book took me by surprise..
a meditation on a movement that we as women can all relate to at some level but often find ourselves wanting to suppress the realities and keep things quite ..
Thank you katie bishop for a refreshing and brave exploration of intelligent capable women struggling to come to terms with this ever controversial and persistent problem.