I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
I've read and enjoyed a few of Hilderbrand's other novels, but her first take at a historical fiction was the book I didn't realize I needed at the time. I've been so caught up in thrillers and true crime that I needed a moment to flash back to a different time. Never mind the fact that that time period was before even my mom was born. I was big into the Kennedy history for a while so the fact that the Chappaquiddick incident was mentioned in this novel made me fangirl a little. This book is told in four different points of view of four different siblings. One of them is serving in the war, one is a teenager who is also half Jewish (half sibling to the other three), one is pregnant with twins (modeled after Hildebrand and her brother) and the other daughter is a political activist. Essentially the four siblings tell the story of their summer. This was the summer of the moon landing, and a very troubling summer for their family in particular.
Once I started this book, I couldn't put it down. We were supposed to be watching a movie last night (Ant Man!) but I was reading rather than watching. I just couldn't help myself! The story kept me hooked, no matter who it was telling it. The characters blended seamlessly, and it was easy to tell who was "speaking" which I think can be an issue with some books that have too many POV's. Hildebrand pulls this off perfectly. There were definitely a few times that each of the characters made me want to slap them, but I had to keep reminding myself that it was a different time.
This book was published at the beginning of the month of June. I know our library will be purchasing it, and I can definitely see it being a book club read or something similar. I know I will be recommending it to our patrons who like historical fiction.
4 out of 5 stars
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