The Summer Girls cover art

The Summer Girls

The Lowcountry Summer Trilogy, Book 1

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The Summer Girls

By: Mary Alice Monroe
Narrated by: Mary Alice Monroe
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About this listen

Three sisters reunite on Sullivan’s Island off the coast of South Carolina after years of separation in this heartwarming first novel in a new trilogy from a beloved author.

80-year-old Marietta Muir is a dowager of Charleston society who has retired to her historic summer home on Sullivan’s Island. At the onset of summer, Marietta - "Mamaw" - seeks to gather her three granddaughters - Carson, Eudora, and Harper - with the intent to reunite them after years apart.

©2013 Mary Alice Monroe (P)2013 AudioGO Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Heartfelt

Critic Reviews

"[Anyone who] enjoys such fine Southern voices as Pat Conroy will add the talented Monroe to their list of favorites." ( Booklist)
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I originally bought this as a soft cover book many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was an absolute joy to have the author herself narrate this. The undertones of conservation are well developed as are the family ties with their 'warts and all' approach.

Another great Mary Alice Monroe book.

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I enjoyed this book which I picked at random for the 'plus catalogue' option. I found it a refreshing, easy going, story of family and how we work through life.

A Lovely Read

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I feel like this story has more to come, hopefully there will be a follow up👍

Want more

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The southern accent put me to sleep and there just was no point to the story

Too slow

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Please remember this review is my opinion only. I didn't like this book much at all. I have given 2 stars - 1 for the book, and 1 for me finishing it. The storyline was shallow and repetitive - like the name of the car or that the lunch board is written in chalk, for example. The author seems to want to impress by smothering in language which was often unnecessary and often out of place. The characters have no continuity. Did Harper stay locked in her room doing the dolphin story towards the end? There was no accountability of the grandmother's participation in the fishing rod saga, but all blame laid on a 9 year old, even by the grandmother. The point that so much of the story focuses around a dolphin, and that Carson seems to think she knows more about dolphins than a biologist who works with them is confusing. If the main character development had gone with trying to work with the autist boy, I might have felt the story more believable. And I found the narration boring I actually have the next book in the series but I'm not going there.

Not my cup of tea

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So glad this was a free book otherwise I would be wanting my money back. Kept hoping it would get better.... it didn't.

Boring characters, Boring story, Boring Narration

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I hate it when authors think they can tell the story better than the professionals very poor performance. It totally distracted from the story and I can't tell if it was a good one or a bad one but I won't be listening to the second book.

Leave the narration to the professionals

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