Cover of The Days of Summer

The Days of Summer

by Jill Barnett

512 pages6 editions2006Pocket StarISBN 9780671035365
FictionRomance

About this book

New York Times bestselling author Jill Barnett sweeps readers away to the sultry California coast in a profoundly moving story about the power of forgiveness. One fateful night, a deadly accident at a Los Angeles intersection changes the lives and fortunes of three innocent women -- Kathryn, Laurel, and Julia Peyton -- destined to be caught in a tangled web of obsession, revenge, and unruly passion. Wealthy California oil magnate Victor Banning also lost his son and daughter-in-law that night, an accident caused by his own selfish actions and dark secrets. Afterward, Victor aspires to raise their sons Jud and Cale to be just like him: hungry predators in a dog-eat-dog world...until years later, everything changes when they meet Laurel Peyton. Spanning thirty years and three generations of Peyton women and Banning men, The Days of Summer follows both deeply affected families as they recover from the emotional heartbreak of tragedy and loss -- only to cross paths once again in the most unexpected of ways. Provocative and lyrical, it explores the depth of blood ties, the mistakes we make in the name of love, and our ability to hope, forgive, and find the courage to change.

Publication Details

Publisher
Pocket Star
Published
2006
Pages
512
ISBN
9780671035365
Language
en
Editions
6

About Jill Barnett

Jill Barnett was born and raised in Southern California, in the kind of idyllic coastal town the Beach Boys made famous. But as a young girl she spent plenty of summers on her grandparents’ farm in Texas. Among her Southern family she was the lone native Californian. “My dad used to tease me and say I was the only prune picker in a family of cotton pickers.” A gap in jobs in her mid-thirties sent Jill back to college and working toward her Masters degree. “I intended to finish school and teach, perhaps write college textbooks that wouldn’t bore all the enjoyment of history out of the average nineteen year old.” But the gift of a baby daughter (something Jill had been told she could never have) changed everything. Soon she was juggling childcare and classes, motherhood, marriage and home, and found herself in the shoes of so many women, trying to be everything to everyone. “It was October and I took my daughter to a local pumpkin farm to pick a pumpkin. I stood there watching the absolute, pure delight on her two year-old face as she ran through the rows, finding each pumpkin more wonderful than the last. It was a seminal moment in my life. The ordinary world from your child’s eyes is a magical place. You see that joy in something you take for granted--if you notice at all--and suddenly you remember to stop and pay attention to life around you, to not pant through every day but pause to really take deep breaths. You find wonder all over again.” Four days later Jill quit school to rethink her choices and concentrate on family, something she has never regretted. She was asked once if sacrificing her goals for her daughter and husband wasn’t traveling backwards. “It was never a sacrifice. It was and is enrichment. I am more of a woman for the experience.” And Jill’s goals had only changed ‘not evaporated.’ Always an avid reader, she had been dabbling with a novel. “Writing is very intimidating. To dabble with an idea was safer, but was also how I found m

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