The Last Summer (of You & Me)

by Ann Brashares

I was a bit hesitant to pick this book up since Brashares is so well known for her cute YA series, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. However, her first novel for adults turned out to be a pretty good book. The story centers on the lives of two sisters, Riley and Alice, who despite their vastly different personalities, have an extremely close relationship. Riley, the older sister, is an adventurous, confident tomboy who loves the outdoors while Alice is beautiful, quiet and smart. Their family spends every summer on the idyllic beaches of a small town called Waterbury on Fire Island where they also meet up with Paul, the girls' best friend. This summer, they are all finished with college, their threesome finally reunited after a couple of years without Paul, who'd moved out to California.

While Paul's friendship with Riley is stronger than ever, he and Alice discover that they can no longer deny their strong attraction to each other and find themselves falling in love, a secret they keep from Riley in order to protect her. One night while Alice and Paul meet in secret, Riley is rushed to the hospital and soon discovers that she has a very bad heart condition. She demands that Alice keep her illness a secret from Paul until she is ready to tell him herself. The secrets and guilt weigh heavily on gentle Alice and she is forced to make a choice between her beloved Riley and her soul mate Paul.

Brashares paints a vivid backdrop of innocent summers at the beach and her characters are well drawn and likeable. The complexities of the relationship between sisters can be hard to capture but this one feels true and completely believable. Despite my inital reservations, Brashares has written a great story about loyalty, friendship and love, a perfect book for the beach or vacation.