It was suspenseful and well paced, and kept me reading far later into the night than I should have. The book alternates between 19, drawing out the story and adding intrigue in each chapter. But there are still many secrets, many old wounds, that have yet to surface. Graham, now a Yankees player, seems to be setting aside his womanizing tendencies for Lily. Lily is the primary caregiver for Kiki, her six-year-old sister who may or may not actually be her daughter. Nick has recently married Budgie, and the two of them, Lily, and Graham all return to the Rhode Island seaside town where their families have summered for generations. Despite the fact that Lily knows her parents wouldn’t approve, they have a whirlwind courtship, until something breaks them apart. She and Nick shared an instant connection, despite the fact that he was shunned by many for his Jewish heritage even in the United States, it wasn’t good to be thought of as Jewish in the 1930s. But it wasn’t Graham, the golden boy, who caught Lily’s attention.

Her friend, Budgie Byrne, dragged Lily up to Dartmouth one fall day in 1932 so Budgie could see her boyfriend, Graham Pendleton, play football.

Lily Dane was drawn to Nick Greenwald from the moment she first saw him. It’s a compelling novel, one that builds relationships and characters and suspense with great skill. A Hundred Summers is the second novel by Beatriz Williams (the hardcover, mainstream fiction alter ego of historical romance writer Juliana Gray).

A hundred summers book review