SUMMER LIES AND BLACKBERRY PIES

A teenage girl finds first love with a boy from the wrong side of the tracks in the summer of 1968.

Shelby Montgomery, from an extremely influential white family in Memphis, loves summertime, when the Montgomerys travel to their country estate in Tupelo, Mississippi. Rare for the time, the teen’s best friend is an African American girl named Liberty Chestnut, who brings Shelby down to the local pond for swimming on hot summer days. On one of these days, Shelby spies River Martin, a handsome, brooding, local boy she doesn’t know much about, and when their eyes meet, she’s thoroughly smitten. Liberty tells Shelby that River, who's white, is a blues musician, and she knows just how to sneak in to his upcoming gig. As Shelby and River connect, Shelby also learns the disturbing news that her own father is much despised by many locals because he’s been scheming to purchase their land to make way for a new highway. When a tragic accident befalls another member of the town, Shelby must decide how far she’s willing to go to prevent the wrong person from taking the blame. As she attempts to navigate her relationships and simultaneously save the town from her father’s “improvement” plans, it seems it might just be too much for one young woman. Told in a close third person, the book primarily follows Shelby. Tupelo provides the perfect backdrop for this coming-of-age story; both the socioeconomic battles and Shelby’s increasingly rebellious behavior contrast well with the charming southern town. While the setting details are rich, with descriptions of blackberry pies, fireflies, and lakeside bluffs in abundance, physical descriptions of most characters are sparse, making it difficult to keep identities straight. Similarly, the plot-heavy story is full of action and drama, but the characters’ emotions often feel underdeveloped. Even so, the author does an admirable job of exposing issues related to loss of innocence and artificial social boundaries.

A wholesome if predictable summer romance.