Summer at Willow Lake
Susan Wiggs
Fiction/Romance, Published 2006
Read March 2008
4.5/5
From the Beginning:
“Olivia Bellamy tried to decide what was worse. Being trapped at the top of a flagpole with no help in sight, or having help arrive in the form of a Hells Angel.
Her plan to raise the flags over Camp Kioga for the first time in ten years had seemed so simple. Then the cable and pulley snagged, but Olivia was undaunted. She had set up an old aluminum ladder and climbed to the top, only to discover she still couldn’t reach the snag. Shinnying up the pole was no big deal, she told herself — until she accidentally kicked over the ladder.”
Overall Opinion:
During college Olivia blossomed into a butterfly, so unlike the caterpillar she had been during her adolescence, not to mention every summer at Camp Kioga. Olivia, known as Lolly at camp, ate her way through her parent’s divorce and was often made fun of by the other campers. Now, transformed with a new look, she is a very beautiful and successful businesswoman with her own home staging business. Olivia has also had three failed engagements. After her latest breakup, her grandparents want Olivia to renovate Camp Kioga for their 50th wedding anniversary. As soon as Olivia leaves the city and enters the gates of Camp Kioga, she is once again faced with all her old insecurities, including her first love – Connor Davis, who she reluctantly hires as the project manager.
A myriad of people have joined Olivia at the camp to help out with the renovation project. I love the way Susan Wiggs portrays all of her characters. Several family members and friends are forever intertwined by their adventures at Camp Kioga. The book switches back and forth from the present to the past, filling in the blanks for several of the Bellamy family members. Although Olivia is the main character, the book is not always written from her viewpoint.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and at almost 600 pages, I read this book in about 2 days. I’m definitely looking forward to following up on the rest of the Lakeshore Chronicles.
