Summer Husband
A connection based on mutual respect, affirmation, and help allows a neglected wife and mother to blossom at summer camp in the breezy romance novel Summer Husband.
A housewife follows her children to sleepaway camp in Amy Lorowitz’s heartfelt novel Summer Husband.
Lori chafes against her role as a stay-at-home mother to two indulged daughters in New York City. It does not help that her trial attorney husband is always at the office, devalues her work in their home, and dismisses her needs. Thus she seizes the opportunity to send the girls to sleepaway camp; she joins the camp staff in exchange for tuition, thinking that the time away will help her evaluate her marriage.
On her first day at camp, Lori meets Teddy, a staff member from the boys’ side of the camp. Their attraction is instant. As she finds her rhythm with the campers, counselors, and other adult staff, Lori begins to reconnect with the woman she used to be. She wonders if a summer fling might be what she needs. She and Teddy have illicit late-night meetups; they share lighthearted jokes and talk about their children and prior relationships. Their romance is based on mutual respect, affirmation, and helping one another.
The plot is driven by Lori’s determination to use the camp experience to rediscover herself. She excavates her confidence, finds her voice, and cedes some control to help her daughters develop independence and resilience. Liveliness is also generated by the campers and their activities, scenes of which are marked by humor, movement, and personality.
Still, the secondary characters are underdeveloped in comparison to Lori, lacking in personality and only fleshed out according to single defining qualities and their camp roles. For instance, the waterfront director, Mike, has swimming briefs in every color and a tedious penchant for off-color remarks; Jack, the camp co-director, uses verbal abuse and intimidation to assert dominance with Lori and members of the senior staff.
Elements of the storytelling are also twee. Lori’s distress over her infidelity is often waved away by reminders of her estrangement from her husband. Though remorseful, she decides that the potential fallout—even the possible end of her marriage—is a negligible concern for her, though she worries about her children. Indeed, the book’s reflectiveness is fleeting; Lori’s worries have the narrative weight as her morning exercises and the after-hours senior staff wind down. Instead of digging deep into its weightier themes, the book focuses on highlighting the best parts of summer camp—instant friendships; the intense mental and physical engagement of being responsible for hundreds of children.
In the jovial romance novel Summer Husband, a neglected wife learns that self-discovery can happen at any age.
Reviewed by
Dontaná McPherson-Joseph
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
