On a Summer Tide by Suzanne Woods Fisher – A Great Read for Summer

After reading the description of Suzanne Woods Fisher’s newest book On a Summer Tide, I wanted to read it.  It seemed like just the right book to read for summer.

When father Paul Grayson calls his daughters Cam, Maddie, and Blaine together for a family meeting he throws them for a loop when he announces that he sold the family’s home and bought an island.  Not just any island, but the one where he met and fell in love with his wife Corinna while working at Camp Kicking Moose many years ago.  While his daughters try to figure out if he’s going through a mid-life crisis or has premature dementia, Paul tells them his plans to breathe new life into the camp and island with their help.

I absolutely loved reading On a Summer Tide.  There was an interesting mix of characters with the sisters, very different from one another, and each family member is still dealing with the tragic death of their mother several years before.  The girls are not close, but Paul and his wife had longed for a day when their daughters would enjoy one another and be a close-knit family. 

I could relate the Cam as the career driven woman that didn’t want anything to get in her way.  But her son, 7-year-old Cooper, made that a little difficult at times.  I struggled the most with Maddie because as a trained counselor, she acted she knew everything and was constantly diagnosing everyone in her path, but she didn’t seem to look within too much.  Blaine seemed a bit flaky, but it was neat seeing her come into her own as she discovered where her talents and passions lay.   

It was fun and interesting to get to know the island’s local people.  My favorite was Peg!  She had a lot of wisdom and treated people with honesty, kindness, and fairness.  Of course, I loved the school teacher Seth Walker.  Who wouldn’t have loved to have had someone like Seth as their teacher growing up?  He was kind and patient, not only with his students but also the Grayson girls and Cooper. 

Though their mother Corinna had died a few years before, her influence on her daughters and husband were profound and still impacting them today.  I loved how little bits of Corrina’s wisdom and sayings were shared by each of the family members.  There were profound thoughts from the characters and I underlined and starred a number things throughout the book.  I don’t think you can read On a Summer Tide without doing some self-reflection or thinking about your own family. 

Faith was part of the storyline, but not so much the Gospel of Christ.  But there is a beautiful redemption theme in the story. 

I loved reading On a Summer Tide by Suzanne Woods Fisher.  Not only did I like the characters, I learned from them.  The small island setting gave the novel a relaxed feel, so different than life in the big city.  Three Sister Island was a place I’d like to visit.  I’ve only read a few of Suzanne Woods Fisher’s novels, but I look forward to reading more of them.  I highly recommend On a Summer Tide for your summertime (or anytime) reading! 

I would like to thank Revell Books for the opportunity to read On a Summer Tide in exchange for an honest review.  I was under no obligation to give a favorable review.