Book DetailsSynopsis
In 1980 Germany, Cold War tensions are once again escalating and a mole is suspected in the British Embassy. So when the clever diplomat Nicky Fleming dies suddenly and suspiciously, it’s convenient to brand him the traitor. But was his death an accident, murder, or suicide? As the government digs into Nicky’s history, his wife, Letty, relocates with her three children to a remote Scottish island hoping to salvage what remains of their family. But the isolated shores of her childhood retreat only serve to heighten their distance, and it is Letty’s brilliant and peculiar youngest child, Jamie, who alone manages to hold on to the one thing he’s sure of: his father has promised to return and he was a man who never broke a promise.
When Jamie sets off to explore the island with his teenaged sisters, they discover that a domesticated brown bear has been marooned on shore and is hiding somewhere among the seaside caves. Jamie soon becomes convinced that the bear has a strange connection to his father, and as Jamie grows determined to find the truth, his father’s story begins revealing itself in unexpected ways.
My thoughts:
The Summer of the Bear by Bella Pollen is a very interesting story about a family dealing with the loss of the father in the family. The novel takes place on the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, in the summer of 1979.This story is told in alternating chapters by the members of the Fleming family and by the circus bear. Yes the bear in this story has thoughts. The circus bear escapes from his handler while swimming in the ocean. Georgie, the eldest daughter feels that she is responsible for the death of her father, Alba the middle child hates everyone, especially her younger brother Jamie. Jamie does not believe that his father is dead because his father promised to return, he thinks that his father was a spy and hopes that the bear, if he can find him, may be able to help him find out the truth. Other parts of the story are told in flashbacks mostly by the mother Letty and Georgie. Letty remembers how she and Nick met and Georgie about the time she went with her father to Germany.
A tense, engrossing, magical story on the island that Letty grew up on and some of the local characters that live on the island. A very enjoyable read.
I received a review copy of this book from Inkwell Management and was not monetarily compensated for my review.
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