I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have not been so emotionally disturbed by a story since watching Diane Lane in "Unfaithful". When you are married to a good person, who loves you, and you love them, why are you doing this?

Claire is like so many other moms, my wife included. So much going on and stretched to the breaking point but still can't say, "no". Claire's husband is a good guy and excellent father (yes he is) who, clearly, never got the wife user manual, "How to Feed and Care for your Lovely Wife". As a result, Claire, although she has a rich life in many respects, is left with two huge emotional vacuums, 1) professional satisfaction and fulfillment; and, 2) "just hold me, not bang me" intimacy. You can like both the Jason and Claire characters while wanting to slap, no,... I mean, douse them with ice cold water shouting, "wake up"! It is not like Claire is looking for trouble but when it is clearly there she does not back away.

Adultery is bad. In this story the adulterous situation is a train wreck of humongous proportions you know is going to happen. The train wreck unfurls in a very deliberate manner with lots of interesting characters and twist along the way. I never really despised, but also never liked, Locke, Claire's lover (I am closer to Locke than Jason intellectually). I think I didn't despise Locke because he was starting from such a lonely place emotionally. He was very needy considering who he was. On the other hand, you might see the whole situation as Locke taking advantage of Claire to some extent... but, all Claire had to do is not play ball so to speak.

One the more amusing aspects of an adulterous affair is when one of the perpetrators becomes jealous of their lover having to do "romantic" things with their spouse. Ouch!

Lastly, the cover has to go. Whoever selected that cover should be fired. The cover has nothing to do with the book. This was a "dark, winter" affair on Nantucket conducted under cover of night and in an office conference room. No, no, no, no barefoot walks in the sand. Sorry.

One last thing in the course of disclosures, I did this as an unabridged audiobook. Clearly, I would highly recommend this audiobook, notwithstanding the cover image.

This is a refreshing book about Claire, a modern woman whose friends think she has it all. A devoted husband, 4 great kids and a beautiful home in Nantucket. She should be happy, but Claire has a problem with setting limits. Her cup overflows when she takes the chairperson position for the charity ball. She not only has to deal with the activities of the ball, but finds her emotions confused. She falls for a married man that gives her what she thinks she is missing in her own life. The ending may surprise you, but it makes you reflect on you own life...and how you lead it.

I enjoyed this book and was swept up in to Claire's life. I couldn't put the book down and finished it too quickly. I hadn't read any of Elin Hilderbrand's books before, but will be putting them on my 'to read' list.

This is a troublesome book for me to rate. For me, it was a clear 4 stars as a book club book, but much closer to 3 stars as a straight read.

My big question for myself: If the main character's adultery hadn't made me so uncomfortable, how would I have rated the book? Other than this one decision (granted, the main subject of the book), I liked Claire, and was interested in the challenges in her life- as a mother, as a wife, as an artist. I identified with her desire to say "yes" when anyone asked something of her, and her putting away of her professional identity and replacing it with one of straight motherhood. Even though that role fits me much better than it did her, I envy her knowledge of what she truly wanted to be doing.

Claire's best friend was probably my favorite character of the book. I didn't agree with all of her decisions, either, but I understood where they came from. I loved going through her conflicted feelings. She wanted to know what was going on with her best friend's life. When her suspicions were confirmed, she realized she really didn't want to know, and had to figure out where to go next.

I found Claire's husband and her lover to be almost non-entities to me. I couldn't bring myself to care at all about either of them. I think this might be because the book (even the affair) was never about either of them. It was about Claire and her need to break out of her roles.

In the end, if I treat the adultery as a metaphor for recasting the rules for Claire's life, I'd say overall, I liked the book.

All of Elin's books leave me not wanting to put them down, I have been very happy with all of her novels, including this one. I hope she keeps writing. I find it amazing how you can feel like you know so much about not only the main, but also sidebar characters from her writing, even when not alot is written about them - it's the way she writes about them.
Great author - please keep your novels coming Elin!

I had a hard time buying into Clair and Lock's passion for each other because it came no so suddenly. I would have liked more build up to this Summer Affair and then I think I could have gotten in to the book more. Although I'm sure it was the author's intent to end the story at then end of the affair, I still want to know what happened next.

I bought this at Barnes and Noble and only because I was walking by and the cover caught my eye. I loved this book and could not put it down!!! I want more books like this.

Having read Barefoot first, it was difficult to find another novel by this author that could be as good. A Summer Affair held my attention and I did enjoy it. The characters were interesting. I found this book represented some women in life dealing with similar problems, and wondering how they would handle it being in the same situation. I would recommend reading it, but the story line isn't quite as good as Barefoot

Elin Hilderbrand is a GREAT author!!!!! I wish some of her books had sequels to them.

I enjoyed reading Hilderbrand's book. Quite honestly, I expected the ending to be a bit different, however the novel overall, kept me very interested throughout.
Highly Recommended

How refreshing to read a book about a wife and mother who is sought after by three men, rather than left for a younger woman or alone in a marriage because the husband has a mistress. Although the writing is rather straightforward (no interesting turns of phrase), the story is great, the structure is focused and helps make it easy to keep all the characters straight. You get the feel of what it's like to be on Nantucket even though there is not a lot description of day to day life there. And the whole "behind the scenes" look at what goes into the "glamour" of galas makes the whole charity world seem less intimidating. The author does a fresh take on the harried working mother thing. The main character, Claire, is not neurotic, just a little confused, a little selfish but basically a good person. A Summer Affair will give you everything but a tan.

I just finished this book. Billed as summer reading, it's impressive and stands out. The main character, Claire, is not so likeable, although Hilderbrand tries hard to make her so. And I would have liked to see more resolution at the end, perhaps a more substantial ending. It felt too abrupt. Hilderbrand does a nice job of fleshing out her other characters, they are surprising vibrant even when they have minor roles in the story. I love her chapter titles, too - imaginative and meaningful. I'll be reading more of her work.