Mia Emslie's Reviews > Summer, 1976

I wanted to like it.
2 women in 1976 with 5 year old daughters who were their only connection, as they were very different people. The 1st one, read by Laura Linney, was an uptight, unhappy, critical, superior, frustrated, controlling, single mother.
The 2nd was more gentle, demure, kinda bohemian (?), married.. not happily.
They seemed to be developing a (guarded) friendship, then… … nothing.
The story line dissolved.

I must have missed something because it had good reviews. Their friendship seemed to have an impact on each other but they never claimed it, remaining distant and uncommunicative.
Lots of regret, apparently.
If that was the point, it felt hollow and empty.

If you would like a legitimate look at the (developed) friendship between 2 disparate women, I highly recommend Miss Benson’s Beetle.
Well developed, well-written.
A very rewarding read.. I promise.