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"...she has a gift for vivid and inventive descriptions and a clear affection for and understanding of her characters..."
-Booklist (April 2010)
Preview an excerpt.
Visit the Summer Shift page.
A beach read pick for Woman's Day and The New York Post!
Get a taste for the book with these recipes from
Mary's clam bar, The Clambake.
From The Barnstable Patriot:...Two summers later, Bonasia has returned once again to fictitious Nauset, and local bookshelves, with Summer Shift, a masterfully written, moving story that will stir the souls of its readers, and serve to inspire one to appreciate even life’s hardships....Summer Shift offers an opportunity to travel along on a journey of a powerful inner shift from a place of fear to one of inspired grace, hope, and love. (May 28, 2010) Read more.
From Booklist:...she has a gift for vivid and inventive descriptions and a clear affection for and understanding of her characters, who come across as flesh and blood individuals as opposed to typical small-town eccentrics. It's impossible not to root for Mary, particularly as she copes with a beloved great-aunt's onset of Alzheimer's, which Bonasia handles with tenderness and poignancy. (April, 2010)
From "Best Beach Reads" in Woman's Day:...it gets you in a vacation state of mind. (June, 2010)
From "Summer Beach Book Preview" in the New York Post: Clam-bar owner Mary Hopkins comes out of her shell when she must cope with several tragedies in this new beach story by Bonasia, who is also the author of “Some Assembly Required.” Relationships with eccentric New England beach locals add new human connection to Hopkin’s life as well. Then things get steamy when a lost love returns. (May 24, 2010)
From Authors:
"Lynn Bonasia's writing is warm, intelligent and charming. Summer Shift is a moving read with characters that stay with you long after you have turned the last page."
-Santa Montefiore, author of The French Gardener
"As romantic as the shimmer of moonlight on Cape Cod Bay, as down to earth as the working side of the counter in a saltbox clam shack, and as filled with memorable characters as only a beach town can be, Summer Shift is not only the perfect summer read (as light and airy as a cotton shift), it’s also a deeply satisfying and moving tale of betrayal and reconciliation that recounts one woman’s journey to self-discovery and fulfillment. I was engaged to the very last page."
-Kermit Moyer, author of The Chester Chronicles
Forty-four year old Cape Cod clam bar owner Mary Hopkins is stuck in the cycle of her seasonal business; overwhelmed by the relentless influx of new names and fresh young faces, she feels as if life is passing her by.
Then, in the first days of the summer season, a young waitress dies, stirring up unresolved pain from Mary’s own past over the death of her husband fourteen years earlier, and bringing a lost love—perhaps the greatest of her life—back into her world. At the same time, Mary’s life is further upended as she begins to suspect her beloved great aunt, the one person in the world who loves her unconditionally, is making her descent into Alzheimer’s disease. As Mary faces these challenges and losses, it’s her unlikely friendships with a handsome young kitchen worker, a Chinese head cook afflicted with a mysterious condition involving his sense of taste, the dead girl’s grandmother and a wise, reclusive artist that keep her afloat.
Set against the backdrop of Cape Cod sand, sun and seafood, Summer Shift is the story of a woman’s struggle to find the peace, love and human connection that have eluded her for decades.
A beach read pick for Woman's Day
and The New York Post!
