The Summer Country by Lauren Willig

A run-down sugar plantation was the last thing Emily thought her uncle would leave to her, but Emily was thrilled about it even though her cousin wasn't.

Emily, her cousin, and his wife traveled to Barbados to meet a few people and to see the plantation. 

We meet the family from 1812 and the opulence of their home, food, and life style and then turn to 1845 and meet “friends” of the family.  

The connection between the time periods was smoothly done.  I really liked how Ms. Willig ended one chapter with a comment and started the next chapter with that comment but in a different time period.

Some of the characters were quite devious, and as the pages turned we find out there was more to the family than what was known or heard and something about the plantation and about the Davenant family that someone wanted to keep a secret.

Ms. Willig definitely knows how to use adjectives for describing the characters and settings with her beautiful prose.  The characters are described and perfectly portrayed for the time periods.

It was as though I were right there immersed in the lives of the characters whether they were the wealthy or the indentured.  I became attached to a few of the characters.

If you enjoy learning about past cultures, delving into life in another country and century, and finding out family secrets that were kept for years, THE SUMMER COUNTRY should be on your summer reading list. 

You will definitely get a vocabulary work out.  :)

THE SUMMER COUNTRY is another beautiful, enjoyable, well-researched read by Lauren Willig.  5/5

This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.