The Summers Between Us by Noreen Nanja

The Summers Between Us is an aptly named coming of age novel blended with a second-chance romance storyline. The author includes a trigger-warning as a forward.

The Summers Between Us is a story that aims to represent the messiness of life.  This book contains discussion of divorce, homophobia, pregnancy loss, grief over loss of a parent as an adult and coping with family illness.  Please take care should any of these topics be sensitive for you.

While the novel is fast-paced, the characters are endearing and carry the plot through emotional explorations of key issues. Lia, is a corporate lawyer who works very hard to support the wishes and desires of her extended immigrant family. Through the use of a dual timeline, we learn that Lia’s summers as a young person were spent at a family cottage, next door to which was Wes’ family cottage, Lia’s first love. West came from a WASP single-parent family, and although their domestic worlds were entirely different, Lia and Wes forged a tight bond that carried them through their winters apart.

Cottage life holds a special place in the characters’ lives:

It was our first summer spending time out of the city.  My dad had purchased a cottage in the North Bruce Peninsula that he’d deemed an important real estate investment, as if he couldn’t justify doing something solely for the sake of enjoyment.  My sister and I were reluctant to go.  The cottage wasn’t cool like the Muskoka ones our affluent classmates went to in the summers.  

But when we saw the two-storey wooden house, painted blue like the bay behind it, we knew we were somewhere magical.  There was no clamour of construction or rumbling from the nearby train tracks.  Instead, a bird chirped through the silence and cooling breeze rustled the trees.  The air was crisp, free of the cloying scent of laneway dumpsters.  Stepping into the cottage, I had never seen so much space, having lived my entire life in a cramped townhouse in east Toronto.

Throughout their growing up years, both Lia and Wes are pressured by their families to conform to parental expectations and desires. Each of them loves family and endeavours to do the things that will please, despite the fact that such compromises often bring them little personal satisfaction. Succumbing to these demands pushed the couple to go their separate ways when they began university, and then to fall out of touch.

Nanja has done a brilliantly empathetic job of sketching in each of these scenarios, so that the reader remains completely engaged in the humanity of the narrative.

Many years later, Lia and Wes have the opportunity to renew their bond, while also being forced to decide if they are now able to prioritize their happiness and well-being over familial obligations and demands. Such a shift in priorities becomes complicated by the needs that confront them – the secrecy and fear of rejection as a sister hides her sexual identity, the complications of a second marriage, life-threatening illness, a secret miscarriage, the aftermath of divorce, grief, loneliness and financial need as a widow. Nanja has done a brilliantly empathetic job of sketching in each of these scenarios, so that the reader remains completely engaged in the humanity of the narrative. Layering in the requirements of demanding career commitments, and Lia and West struggle to resolve deeply-rooted conflicts.

Well-written, with lovely descriptive language, The Summers Between Us is a study in belonging, identity, friendship and love.

Noreen Nanja is a Toronto-based contemporary romance writer. A second-generation immigrant from the Indian diaspora, Noreen’s writing explores themes of identity, race and belonging, wrapped in stories of romantic and familial love. Noreen studied Psychology and English Literature at McGill University, received her MD from the University of Calgary, and now practices as a pediatric neurologist. When she is not writing or reading, she can be found spending time with her partner and their adorable dog and exploring local bookstores.

Publisher: Random House Of Canada (May 13, 2025)
Paperback: 8″ x 6″ | 368 pp
ISBN: 9781039013001

Lucy E. M. Black

Website

Lucy E.M. Black (she/her/hers) is the author of The Marzipan Fruit Basket, Eleanor Courtown, Stella’s Carpet, The Brickworks and Class Lessons: Stories of Vulnerable Youth. A Quilting of Scars will be released October 2025. Her award-winning short stories have been published in Britain, Ireland, USA and Canada. She is a dynamic workshop presenter, experienced interviewer and freelance writer. She lives with her partner in the small lakeside town of Port Perry, Ontario, the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island, First Nations.