The First Act of Summer

From the Costa-shortlisted, beloved author of All My Mothers, Joanna Glen

Is it ever too late to figure out who you were meant to be?

As children, Hester and Elias were inseparable. Every year, their families would spend the summer together at their beach huts on a wild and windswept sandbank, where the two of them never left each other’s side.

But childhood friendships can stretch and warp as you grow up, and in the summer of 1976, the year they turned 14, Hester did a terrible thing that would shatter both of their lives.

For her 60th birthday, Hester goes back to her family’s beach hut to hide from the husband she wants to leave and the daughters she’s never fully understood. It is here that she finally faces up to what she did that fateful summer, wondering whether it’s ever too late to become the person you were meant to be. And if there’s still a chance of finding Elias again…

From the Costa-shortlisted author of The Other Half of Augusta Hope, All My Mothers and Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly, this is a raw and sweeping novel about the power of a dark secret, the resilience of love and the possibility of redemption.


Genre: Romance

"A gorgeous, vital novel about how there's still time to come of age, even on your sixtieth birthday. A love letter to enduring friendship and all the late bloomers." - Anna Brook-Mitchell

"Addictive, devastating, humorous." - Louise Fein

"This gorgeous, sweeping novel has my whole heart... a story about losing, then finding yourself, I defy you not to love it." - Jennie Godfrey

"One of those books you plan to dip into, and before you know it hours have passed. Glen has such a gift for characters who feel real and leap off the page and into your imagination fully formed. I adored it." - Lori Inglis Hall

"A sublime read that's deeply provoking. The perfect combination." - Miranda Hart

"Impeccable prose and an extraordinary sense of time and place... a revelation. I could not love it more!" - Julietta Henderson

"Perfect for fans of The Paper Palace, charting imperfect but very human journeys. A wonderful read." - Jo Leevers

"I adored everything about this story. Fans of Fredrik Backman's The Friends will love the bittersweet tone. A delicate and thought-provoking exploration of how the powerful forces of friendship, timing, shame, memory and motherhood shape the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and who we become. Heartfelt, funny and wise, Joanna Glen is always a joy to read." - Gráinne Murphy

"A beautiful story that exquisitely captures the bittersweet pain of being a teenager in love, and the power of that time in our lives to haunt us down the years. Poignant yet hopeful, with a deliciously subversive sense of humour, this book is as good for the soul as a summer at the seaside." - Frances Quinn