THREE SUMMERS

by Judith Clarke


What a lovely cover that once again made me pick this book up to read.
This story is set mostly in rural Australia and begins in 1959. It follows the life journey of Ruth and her best friend Fee. When I finished the book I felt like I had actually lived along side both of them.

Ruth had lost her mother in a car accident when she was a baby and was raised by her father and her grandmother, which she had a strong connection with. The story tells the tale of the girls receiving their results from their final year of school and the direction their lives followed... Fee craving marriage and motherhood and staying in this country town and Ruth winning a scholarship to a Sydney University, which her grandmother thinks will save her from being trapped in this small town, with all it's quirky characters. She really wants her grand daughter to live life to the fullest and have the opportunities that she was never able to have.

Ruth however is torn by her secret love for Tam, the town casanova, even though she'd never actually dated him, and what she has always wanted, to be educated.


Parts of the book had me engrossed in the trials and tribulations of the characters but at times I found it was a little slow and lost my attention, however I'm glad I persevered because overall it was a wonderful story of friendships and love conquered and lost.