Invincible Summer

Description

Inseparable through university, Eva, Benedict, Sylvie and Lucien graduate into an exhilarating world on the brink of the new millennium. Eager to shrug off the hardships of her childhood, Eva breaks away to work in the City. Benedict stays behind to complete his PhD in Physics and pine for Eva, while siblings Sylvie and Lucien seek a more bohemian life of art, travel and adventure. As their twenties give way to their thirties, the four friends find their paths diverging as they struggle to navigate broken hearts and thwarted dreams. With every summer that passes, they try to remain as close as they once were - but this is far from easy. One friend's triumph coincides with another's disaster, one finds love as another loses it, one comes to their senses as another is changing their mind . . . And who knows where any of us will be in twenty summers' time? A warm, wise and witty novel about finding the courage to carry on despite life not always turning out as expected, and a powerful testament to love and friendship as the constants in an ever-changing world, Invincible Summer is a dazzling depiction of the highs and lows of adulthood and the greater forces that shape us.

Alice Adams studied philosophy in Bristol and creative writing in Manchester and now lives in London, though escapes into the wilderness as often as possible. She has done a variety of jobs from waitressing to a stint as an analyst in the City. Invincible Summer is her first novel.

Irresistible . . . A crackerjack storyteller who deeply inhabits her characters - deploying pitch-perfect dialogue to poignant and hilarious effect - Adams uses the conventions of the form to examine larger ideas about class and commerce, art and science, friendship and family at the time of the most recent fin de siecle . . . charming. * New York Times * Moving . . . bittersweet and compassionate . . . Like your favourite Austen novel, Invincible Summer reconciles the cultural reality of an era with the personal lives of its characters. * Washington Post * Irresistible. * Woman * This debut novel is set to be a summer smash . . . Invincible Summer isn't a million miles away from One Day or The Versions of Us, so it makes for compelling reading. * Red * I really enjoyed it . . . Adams interweaves the four tales with skill, stamina and poetic sensitivity. A great read. * Daily Mail * Brilliant . . . If you loved David Nicholls' One Day, this uplifting novel is the perfect weekend read. * Essentials * Often moving and always engaging, it's a great holiday read. * Heat * There is an enjoyable effervescence as she chronicles the quartet's peaks and troughs through romantic encounters, broken dreams, joy, grief, reunion and the boundless quirks of fate. * Sunday Herald * Adams's enthralling debut novel is an insightful look at how time affects friendships, what happens when one friend falls in love and how, even across the years and significant lifestyle differences, friends can rally round in times of extreme hardship . . . all four characters are engaging and relatable. Eloquent and gripping, this is an immersive, easy read . . . Ideal holiday reading. * The Lady * Fun and memorable . . . the characters are such good company. * Publishers Weekly * A sweet toast to enduring friendship. * Elle * A grown-up coming of age story, full of wisdom and wit and impossible to put down. -- Hannah Kohler Like life, this breezy, charming novel about four college friends deepens and darkens as it moves through the years, presenting its characters with challenges and choices that test them in ways their younger selves couldn't imagine. Invincible Summer is the story of what happens when things get real. -- Tom Perrotta Invincible Summer is a novel that will have you running for the phone to call your old friends and reconnect. Alice Adams is a beautiful storyteller. She deftly weaves the ties that bind four friends over the course of their youth and into middle age with powerful threads of emotion. With a keen eye and an open heart, you root for Eva, Sylvie, Lucien and Benedict, who make their way in the world as we all do, succeeding and failing, but holding on with high hopes. I loved the world of this book, and how Ms. Adams wrote the passing of time through her characters with delicacy and truth. -- Adriana Trigiani A sophisticated yet fun novel about four friends venturing into adulthood, Alice Adams does a magnificent job of describing the way life's heartbreaks and ecstasies unfold over the course of twenty years. -- Elin Hilderbrand Invincible Summer goes down as smoothly as the steady flow of wine knocked back by its disarming characters as they make their way not only into adulthood but through the last two decades of financial boom and bust, London's rave scene, and the Higgs boson particle. Be forewarned, though: it packs a punch. Alice Adams has important things to say about our times and the meaning of family. -- Anne Korkeakivi