Just One More Summer
Devastated by the breakdown of her marriage, Allie flees to the one place her heart can seek comfort: Cornwall, where she hopes childhood memories of a holiday with her father will sustain her while she sorts out her plans for the future. But Fate has other ideas, and she finds herself drawn into an almost obsessive friendship with a band of strange bedfellows led by Marsha, an intense, ageing hippy with a life force that at once comforts, stimulates and infuriates Allie. Her growing attraction to one of the men in the group, Adam, bewilders her as she discovers that nothing in life is what it seems, and the only constant is change. Little by little the layers of her past are painfully peeled away. Initially ruffled and confused, and later deeply hurt by what she considers multiple levels of betrayal, Allie once again chooses flight.
She heads back to London, but finds that her life-complications only deepen – her husband begs her to come back to him, her estranged father arrives unannounced from France, her loopy mother proclaims yet another marriage, Adam turns up to take her back to Cornwall – and the hardest part is yet to come for them all: cancer. Finally, Allie realises that she must confront the secrets and lies of her past – and Marsha’s – before she can face her own future.
'Poignant, funny and realistic, it is a lovely book, full of warmth and wisdom. I love your dry wit and your writing style. A book for today's women, easy to relate to and meaningful.' Katie Fforde, best-selling novelist.
'I love this book! Beyond enchanting. I went 'Oh' on the first page.Very accomplished writing. Highly recommended.' Martin Baillie BBC Radio Cornwall
'McGowan's writing will have us smelling the sea and feeling the stones beneath our feet.' Cornwall Life Magazine.
'Julie tells an intelligent story full of twists and turns which leave the reader engrossed and not wanting to set the book down. We at MCL thoroughly enjoyed this book!' Monmouthshire County Life Magazine
'Twists in the plot had me turning pages... realistic, convincing and unputdownable. Clever, but the cleverness doesn't intrude on the flow of the narrative.' Barbara Daniels, Member of the Welsh Academy.
Just One More Summer was being launched at the London Book Fair on April 15th 2008. It is available at all good bookstore, including Waterstone's and Borders, or from the publishers online at www.Sunpenny.com Price £8.95. ISBN: 978-0-9555283-2-3