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Beth Lowe has been sent a parcel.
Inside is a letter informing her that Marika, her long-estranged mother has died. There is a scrapbook Beth has never seen before. Entitled The Book of Summers, it’s stuffed with photographs and mementos compiled by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth spent in rural Hungary.

The Book of Summers is a wonderful evocative tale of childhood memories brought back to life through unexpected means and the effect this has on the present day.

Beth has buried a lot of her past for reasons we are unaware of early in the novel and as she recalls those memories of summers spent in Hungary we begin to get a picture of her life and the people in it. The descriptive prose utilised by Emylia Hall here is stunning – I almost feel that I have visited those places myself – the sights, sounds and day to day life of a completely different culture bursts from the page.

So deeply immersed was I in Beth’s summer holiday world that the reason for her ultimate estrangement from her Mother came like a punch to the gut even though I was expecting it – Ms Hall puts you right in the moment and uses just the right amount of misdirection to keep you focussed on the time you are in – you forget that you already know at some point these holidays stopped.

It is a beautiful book to be sure, a book of life, love, growing pains and the secrets families keep – I was right in it all the way. If I had one small niggle it would be that I wished for more about Beth’s life in England to offset the Hungary images which were so well drawn – more of a juxtaposition if you like -  but that aside this is a perfect novel to curl up in a chair with and get whisked away to another world.

Happy Reading Folks!