Summer of Love

In this moving novel about the transformative power of storytelling, three women make life-changing decisions set in motion by the 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller.

It’s the summer of 1967 and the counterculture revolution is in full swing in San Francisco. Every street is alive with the music of Jim Morrison and Dionne Warwick, and in view of the Golden Gate bridge young people come together, waving anti-war signs and shouting for equal rights. No one is more into the messages of love and peace than Winnie Hartley who has just graduated from UC Berkeley determined to use poetry to capture the ever-shifting world around her. When she reconnects with her high school boyfriend, an aspiring musician, their creative bond further fuels her work, and it feels like her life is finally taking off.

Meanwhile, miles up the winding coast, her sister Miranda stays close to home, throwing herself into running the family business, Hartley Vineyard. She’s determined to make California wine that rivals French. But change is in the air this wild and heady summer, and each sister will make choices that set their lives hurdling down paths neither would have imagined.

Fifty years later, Dawn Hartley stays as far as possible from her family’s famous vineyard, until a work assignment requires her to research the bestselling Vineland novels penned by a famously anonymous author. Determined to discover the identity of this mysterious writer—who seems to know things no one should about her family—Dawn embarks on a soul-searching journey along the windswept coast of California to uncover her family’s secrets even as she’s keeping a big one of her own.
“A gorgeous golden ode to California history, from the sun-drenched Napa wineries to the hippy-jammed concerts of San Francisco at the height of the sixties. … A delightful intergenerational tale.”—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Briar Club

"A love letter to California, this moving novel is steeped in the beauty of the Bay Area from its towering redwoods to farm-to-table meals to the layered history of Napa’s vineyards. Maher skillfully pairs a deep sense of place with a refreshingly honest look at addiction and the quiet power of storytelling to help us heal. Through the deftly rendered lives of sisters, mothers and daughters, and longtime friends, Maher reveals how telling the truth can guide us back to ourselves and carry us forward with hope.”—Marjan Kamali, New York Times bestselling author of The Lion Women of Tehran

“Beautfiul… An uplifting novel that celebrates the importance of storytelling in recovery.”—Laura McKowen, bestselling author of We Are the Luckiest

"A delicious blend of sunshine and secrets along the California coast, Kerri Maher’s latest delivers a heartfelt and moving portrait of sisters facing great cultural and personal change. Poignant, page turning and relevant today, I couldn’t stop reading about these women living on the precipice of transformation until the final page. For fans of Elin Hilderbrand’s Summer of ‘69 and Beatriz Williams' Summer Wives.”Brooke Lea Foster, award-winning author of Summer Darlings

"An immersive page-turner that offers a complex braid of love, addiction, and the challenges of relationships between sisters and mothers, set against an authentic California and peopled with the real humans of that world. More than a tale of family, Summer of Love delves into the complex nature of secrets and addiction, the hope of recovery, and the power of storytelling to set us free. I genuinely loved this novel."—Barbara O’Neal, USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids and The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth

"Kerri Maher knocks it out of the park again with another multi-layered, deeply felt story peopled by characters who feel as real as our friends and neighbors. It's a captivating blend of mystery, history, family saga, and explosive secrets that can't stay hidden forever. An irresistible read."—Greer Macallister, USA Today bestselling author of The Magician's Lie and The Thirteenth Husband

"A delicious dose of California sunshine, heady romance and long-buried family secrets. Beautifully written and intriguingly moreish, Maher writes about the selves we keep hidden, and the unmasking thereof, with the greatest of humanity. For anyone who loved Daisy Jones and the Six."—Catherine Gray, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Joys of Being Sober

"A provocative, deeply moving novel about California and the fierce aching rush of the American dream. With nuance and bold insight, Maher maps how family secrets can course for years like fire underground, and how a life can turn on one stunning loss or the singular grace of desire."—Dawn Tripp, nationally bestselling author of Jackie

"This special novel about sisters & secrets, wine & words, and addiction & absolution captivates with its stories of three women, tied together by blood and love, and the challenges they face. This dual timeline narrative deftly transports the reader to the sunny California landscapes of yesterday and today and delivers a wallop of a story that keeps the pages turning late into the night."Susie Orman Schnall, bestselling author of Anna Bright Is Hiding Something and We Came Here to Shine

"A gorgeously layered novel about sisterhood and the seductive promise of California, where beauty and excess blur and nothing is as simple as it appears. Kerri Maher writes about the baffling nature of alcohol abuse with rare empathy and restraint, honoring the complexity of women’s inner lives. It is a deeply human story that understands how memory, love, and self-deception intertwine—and how reckoning, when it comes, can change everything.” —Jessica Guerrieri, Award-winning author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Both Can Be True


Praise for the novels of Kerri Maher

“[A] powerful, thought-provoking novel… not only important and timely, but deeply humanizing.”—Good Morning America

“Powerful. Dramatic. Insightful…. It’s not only a timely novel, but storytelling at its finest – a must-read.”NPR

“Remarkable.”The Washington Post
© Kate Eden Renyi Photography
KERRI MAHER is the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller, The Girl in White Gloves, The Kennedy Debutante, and, under the name Kerri Majors, This Is Not a Writing Manual: Notes for the Young Writer in the Real World. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and lives with her daughter and dog in a leafy suburb west of Boston, Massachusetts. View titles by Kerri Maher

About

In this moving novel about the transformative power of storytelling, three women make life-changing decisions set in motion by the 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller.

It’s the summer of 1967 and the counterculture revolution is in full swing in San Francisco. Every street is alive with the music of Jim Morrison and Dionne Warwick, and in view of the Golden Gate bridge young people come together, waving anti-war signs and shouting for equal rights. No one is more into the messages of love and peace than Winnie Hartley who has just graduated from UC Berkeley determined to use poetry to capture the ever-shifting world around her. When she reconnects with her high school boyfriend, an aspiring musician, their creative bond further fuels her work, and it feels like her life is finally taking off.

Meanwhile, miles up the winding coast, her sister Miranda stays close to home, throwing herself into running the family business, Hartley Vineyard. She’s determined to make California wine that rivals French. But change is in the air this wild and heady summer, and each sister will make choices that set their lives hurdling down paths neither would have imagined.

Fifty years later, Dawn Hartley stays as far as possible from her family’s famous vineyard, until a work assignment requires her to research the bestselling Vineland novels penned by a famously anonymous author. Determined to discover the identity of this mysterious writer—who seems to know things no one should about her family—Dawn embarks on a soul-searching journey along the windswept coast of California to uncover her family’s secrets even as she’s keeping a big one of her own.

Reviews

“A gorgeous golden ode to California history, from the sun-drenched Napa wineries to the hippy-jammed concerts of San Francisco at the height of the sixties. … A delightful intergenerational tale.”—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Briar Club

"A love letter to California, this moving novel is steeped in the beauty of the Bay Area from its towering redwoods to farm-to-table meals to the layered history of Napa’s vineyards. Maher skillfully pairs a deep sense of place with a refreshingly honest look at addiction and the quiet power of storytelling to help us heal. Through the deftly rendered lives of sisters, mothers and daughters, and longtime friends, Maher reveals how telling the truth can guide us back to ourselves and carry us forward with hope.”—Marjan Kamali, New York Times bestselling author of The Lion Women of Tehran

“Beautfiul… An uplifting novel that celebrates the importance of storytelling in recovery.”—Laura McKowen, bestselling author of We Are the Luckiest

"A delicious blend of sunshine and secrets along the California coast, Kerri Maher’s latest delivers a heartfelt and moving portrait of sisters facing great cultural and personal change. Poignant, page turning and relevant today, I couldn’t stop reading about these women living on the precipice of transformation until the final page. For fans of Elin Hilderbrand’s Summer of ‘69 and Beatriz Williams' Summer Wives.”Brooke Lea Foster, award-winning author of Summer Darlings

"An immersive page-turner that offers a complex braid of love, addiction, and the challenges of relationships between sisters and mothers, set against an authentic California and peopled with the real humans of that world. More than a tale of family, Summer of Love delves into the complex nature of secrets and addiction, the hope of recovery, and the power of storytelling to set us free. I genuinely loved this novel."—Barbara O’Neal, USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids and The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth

"Kerri Maher knocks it out of the park again with another multi-layered, deeply felt story peopled by characters who feel as real as our friends and neighbors. It's a captivating blend of mystery, history, family saga, and explosive secrets that can't stay hidden forever. An irresistible read."—Greer Macallister, USA Today bestselling author of The Magician's Lie and The Thirteenth Husband

"A delicious dose of California sunshine, heady romance and long-buried family secrets. Beautifully written and intriguingly moreish, Maher writes about the selves we keep hidden, and the unmasking thereof, with the greatest of humanity. For anyone who loved Daisy Jones and the Six."—Catherine Gray, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Joys of Being Sober

"A provocative, deeply moving novel about California and the fierce aching rush of the American dream. With nuance and bold insight, Maher maps how family secrets can course for years like fire underground, and how a life can turn on one stunning loss or the singular grace of desire."—Dawn Tripp, nationally bestselling author of Jackie

"This special novel about sisters & secrets, wine & words, and addiction & absolution captivates with its stories of three women, tied together by blood and love, and the challenges they face. This dual timeline narrative deftly transports the reader to the sunny California landscapes of yesterday and today and delivers a wallop of a story that keeps the pages turning late into the night."Susie Orman Schnall, bestselling author of Anna Bright Is Hiding Something and We Came Here to Shine

"A gorgeously layered novel about sisterhood and the seductive promise of California, where beauty and excess blur and nothing is as simple as it appears. Kerri Maher writes about the baffling nature of alcohol abuse with rare empathy and restraint, honoring the complexity of women’s inner lives. It is a deeply human story that understands how memory, love, and self-deception intertwine—and how reckoning, when it comes, can change everything.” —Jessica Guerrieri, Award-winning author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Both Can Be True


Praise for the novels of Kerri Maher

“[A] powerful, thought-provoking novel… not only important and timely, but deeply humanizing.”—Good Morning America

“Powerful. Dramatic. Insightful…. It’s not only a timely novel, but storytelling at its finest – a must-read.”NPR

“Remarkable.”The Washington Post

Author

© Kate Eden Renyi Photography
KERRI MAHER is the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller, The Girl in White Gloves, The Kennedy Debutante, and, under the name Kerri Majors, This Is Not a Writing Manual: Notes for the Young Writer in the Real World. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and lives with her daughter and dog in a leafy suburb west of Boston, Massachusetts. View titles by Kerri Maher
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