The First Act of Summer
Format:Hardback
Publisher:HarperCollins Publishers
Publishing:18th Jun '26
£16.99
This title is due to be published on 18th June, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
The perfect novel about finding yourself and finding love: ‘This gorgeous, sweeping novel has my whole heart’ JENNIE GODFREY
From the Costa-shortlisted, beloved author of All My Mothers, Joanna Glen Is it ever too late to figure out who you were meant to be?From the Costa-shortlisted, beloved author of All My Mothers, Joanna Glen Is it ever too late to figure out who you were meant to be?
As children, Hester and Elias were inseparable. Every year, their families would spend the summer together at their beach huts on a wild and windswept sandbank, where the two of them never left each other’s side.
But childhood friendships can stretch and warp as you grow up, and in the summer of 1976, the year they turned 14, Hester did a terrible thing that would shatter both of their lives.
For her 60th birthday, Hester goes back to her family’s beach hut to hide from the husband she wants to leave and the daughters she’s never fully understood. It is here that she finally faces up to what she did that fateful summer, wondering whether it’s ever too late to become the person you were meant to be. And if there’s still a chance of finding Elias again…
From the Costa-shortlisted author of The Other Half of Augusta Hope, All My Mothers and Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly, this is a raw and sweeping novel about the power of a dark secret, the resilience of love and the possibility of redemption.
'This gorgeous, sweeping novel has my whole heart… a story about losing, then finding yourself, I defy you not to love it' JENNIE GODFREY, author of The List of Suspicious Things
'One of those books you plan to dip into, and before you know it hours have passed. Glen has such a gift for characters who feel real and leap off the page and into your imagination fully formed. I adored it' LORI INGLIS HALL, author of The Shock of the Light
'Perfect for fans of The Paper Palace, charting imperfect but very human journeys. A wonderful read' JO LEEVERS, author of Tell Me How This Ends
'A beautiful story that exquisitely captures the bittersweet pain of being a teenager in love, and the power of that time in our lives to haunt us down the years. Poignant yet hopeful, with a deliciously subversive sense of humour, this book is as good for the soul as a summer at the seaside.' FRANCES QUINN, author of The Smallest Man
'Impeccable prose and an extraordinary sense of time and place… a revelation. I could not love it more!' JULIETTA HENDERSON, author of The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman
'I adored everything about this story. Fans of Fredrik Backman's The Friends will love the bittersweet tone. A delicate and thought-provoking exploration of how the powerful forces of friendship, timing, shame, memory and motherhood shape the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and who we become. Heartfelt, funny and wise, Joanna Glen is always a joy to read' GRAINNE MURPHY, author of Where the Edge Is
Praise for Joanna Glen:
THE OTHER HALF OF AUGUSTA HOPE:
‘Sure to make you cry’ THE TIMES
‘Gutsy, endearing and entertaining’ DEBORAH ORR
ALL MY MOTHERS:
‘So beautiful I almost couldn’t bear it, and so moving I was reading through tears’ STACEY HALLS
‘A truly glorious life-affirming book’ DINAH JEFFERIES
MAYBE, PERHAPS, POSSIBLY:
'Exquisitely beautiful and so perceptive' JOANNA CANNON
'Fabulous, relaxing, page-turning, dream-inspiring' MIRANDA HART
ISBN: 9780008607463
Dimensions: 240mm x 159mm x 21mm
Weight: 270g
480 pages