Last Summer

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Holly Chamberlin, bestselling author of The Family Beach House and Summer Friends, weaves a powerful and heartfelt story of the bond between mothers and daughters, and the resilience of true friendship. . . The town of Yorktide, close to Maine's beautiful beaches and the city of Portland, seems like the perfect place to raise a family. For Jane Patterson, there's another advantage: her best friend, Frannie Giroux, lives next door, and their teenaged daughters, Rosie and Meg, are inseparable. But in the girls' freshman year of high school, everything changes. Jane always felt lucky that she was able to work from home, to be there to nurture and protect Rosie. But has she been too protective? Rosie--quiet, shy, and also very pretty--attracts the sneers and slights of a clique of older girls. Over time, the bullying worsens. When Meg betrays their friendship, fearful that she too will be targeted, Rosie suffers an emotional breakdown. Blaming both Meg and Frannie, Jane tries to help Rosie heal while dealing with her own guilt and anger. In the months that follow, each struggles with the ideas of forgiveness and compassion, of knowing when a friendship has been shattered beyond repair--and when hope can be salvaged, one small moment at a time. . . Praise for the novels of Holly Chamberlin "Nostalgia over real-life friendships lost and regained pulls readers into the story." –USA Today on Summer Friends "An honest, forceful novel about love, family, and sacrifice." --Booklist on One Week in December "It does the trick as a beach book and provides a touristy taste of Maine's seasonal attractions." --Publishers Weekly on The Family Beach House