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Summer People  By  cover art

Summer People

By: Elin Hilderbrand
Narrated by: Beth MacDonald
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Publisher's summary

Every summer the Newton family retreats to their beloved home on Nantucket for three months of sunshine, cookouts, and bonfires on the beach. But this summer will not be like any other. When Arch Newton, a prominent New York attorney, dies in a plane crash on his way home from a business trip, his beautiful widow, Beth, can barely keep things together. Above all, though, she decides that she must continue the family tradition of going to Nantucket, and at the same time fulfill a promise that Arch made before he died.

Beth invites Marcus, the son of Arch’s final and most challenging client, to spend the summer with her and her teenage twins, Winnie and Garrett, who have mixed reactions to sharing their special summer place with this stranger. Always a place of peace before, Nantucket becomes the scene of roiling emotions and turbulent passions as Marcus, Winnie, and Garrett learn about loss, first love, and betrayal. And when they stumble upon a shocking secret from Beth’s past, they must keep it from destroying the family they’ve been trying so hard to heal.

©2003 Elin Hilderbrand (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about Summer People

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I'm returning it

If I could have given it 0 stars for performance, I would have. I felt that the narration was stilted, and the voices she tried to create for the characters were annoying. As I was trying to get lost in the story, I couldn't stop being reminded how bad it sounded. It was like she was reading the book for the first time. Pauses in the wrong place, like when a child hits the end of a line. I only made it partway through chapter 2 when I decided that I had had enough. The story might have been decent once it got rolling, but the narrator was not going to get me there. AND, the frequent "she said" "and then "he said" was the icing on the cake.

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5 people found this helpful

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Elin Hilderbrand is fantastic!

I usually prefer not to get books that are not "hot off the press" but this does not disappoint! It is lovely, sweet, painful, and touches the heart!

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2 people found this helpful

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Terrible Narration! Attempt at accents is horrible!

Not sure I can get through this one! The narrator’s Massachusetts/Nantucket accent is not even close and she gives Piper a southern accent, though not consistently.

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1 person found this helpful

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Do Not Bother

I stuck with this book because I have read many books by this author I enjoyed. Not so for this one.
The narration was AWFUL.
The writing was juvenile, the story ridiculous and the characters shallow.
Don’t waste your time or money on this one.

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Not a very good narration

Not a very good narration as compared to her other books. Very disappointed in this one.

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Worst Hilderbrand narrator

I’m used to the same Narrator that has done most of her latest audible books. She’s great. This one completely sucks. Not only can she not act the story, but I am listening right now and I want to crumple something and throw it at the wall. She is committing the worst broadcasting sin. Reading with a dry mouth. Her sticky saliva clicks in my AirPods make me go stabby. How dare the director not have her oil down her mouth, hydrate, and redo these chapters?? It’s disgusting. What a shame to spoil a great Hilderbrand story.

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Terrible Narrator...Story ???

If I wanted to read the book I would have purchased the hard copy.. There are no characters being played by the narrator. She is just reading the book aloud. Terrible. Never got past chapter two. I do not recommend this book as an audio . Maybe buy and read. Good luck!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I have read/listened to eight books by Elin Hilderbrand and really enjoy her work. However, I found this book to fall short of what I expect. I found Beth annoying and the story lines to be cliched. This was written in 2003, perhaps Elin hadn't hit her groove yet.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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A good listen

I enjoyed this book and listened to it as often as I could over a few days. The only thing that bothered me was the narrator trying to do accents. It was weird and out of place when she did an odd accent for most of the male characters. Her regular voice was fine but the accents were annoying.

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Glad this wasn’t my first

So glad this wasn’t my first book by this author. Sorry I spent the money. It was difficult to listen to the entire book.

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