"Summer and the City" by Candace Bushnell

Through six seasons and two movies we laughed, cried, celebrated and hurt with the ladies of Sex and the City. They were more than characters on the television and movie screen, they were friends, alter-egos, role models. When we met them, they were successful women with homes, careers and love lives.


In The Carrie Diaries, we were introduced to teenage Carrie Bradshaw. We discovered where she came from and how she ended up in New York City. And now, in Summer and the City, we see how she met Samantha and Miranda and how she came to settle in NYC.


Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell is a young adult novel that fans of Sex and the City will enjoy no matter what their age. While the intent of the novel is to discover who the women we love so much are and what made them the women we know, the book itself is a great stand-alone novel, a story of young women taking New York City by storm in the 1980's.


Carrie has arrived in NYC to take a summer writing class at The New School. After a rough start she is taken in by Samantha Jones, who is working her way up in the advertising field and planning her wedding to one of the city's most eligible bachelors. As Carrie falls in love with an older man and finds herself immersed in the city's fast-paced society culture she learns lessons of love, heartbreak and discovering your voice. When she meets Miranda Hobbes outside of Saks, where the hardcore feminist is protesting pornography, she discovers the importance of female friendship and the power it has in her life.


Meeting the women in their late teens and early twenties is such a trip. Whatever idea you had of them, you can forget. They are not the same women we met in the show, but you see glimpses of who they are to become. And when we get a very brief glimpse of young Charlotte you can't help but smile with nostalgia for a brilliant television show that so greatly influenced the lives of many women.


Don't let the young adult designation steer you away from this book if you are a fan of the show, it is written in a voice that acknowledges readers of all ages. And if you are wondering if your teenage daughter should read the book, don't let the sexual nature of the show worry you, it's not in the book.


Summer and the City is another great book by Candace Bushnell and will be loved by all fans of the show. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go re-watch the entire series.

Comments

  1. KristenSeptember 13, 2011 at 11:00 AM

    I cannot wait to read this book! Sex and the City is my favorite TV show (well, that and The Office) ... I have had this book on my wishlist forever now! Glad that you enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ShanSeptember 14, 2011 at 9:23 AM

    I'm so happy that the new books turned out great. I was worried I wouldn't like them. Like SJP has said, she was Carrie as an adult and doesn't want to go back with her. At times I did feel like I was reading about a different person but everything was tied together well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lenasledgeblog.comSeptember 15, 2011 at 10:05 AM

    This is the first book review I have read about this book that was positive. I wanted to buy it because the cute cover had me mesmorized. But then decided against it because I didn't see any favorable reviews.

    Now I'm back on the fence. What to do. What to do. :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"The Guestbook" by Holly Martin

Image
Welcome to Willow Cottage - throw open the shutters, let in the sea breeze and make yourself completely at home.  Oh, and please do leave a comment in the Guestbook! Annie Butterworth is the landlady of Willow Cottage, a beautiful cottage in the English countryside with a colourful array of guests.  Every guest is encouraged to write their thoughts in the guestbook and do they ever!  Love, loss, happiness, sadness, guilt, affairs, births, and surprises, it’s all in there.  Even Annie’s life gets caught up in the book. As a young widow, Annie herself is going through some changes.  And the appearance of her brother-in-law, celebrity crime writer Oliver Black isn’t helping.  As the guests of Willow Cottage go about their seaside vacations, Annie and Oliver must figure out how to move on in their lives, and most importantly, if they will do so together. The Guestbook by Holly Martin is a lovely, sweet, and unique book.  Written in the form...
Read more

Literary Giveaway Blog Hop

Image
I am so excited to be participating in the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop, hosted by Judith at Leeswammes' Blog . There are over 50 participants hosting giveaways on their blog between October 15 and October 19. Be sure to hop around and check out all the awesome giveaways! My Giveaway Award season is underway in the Canadian literary world and to celebrate I would like to send someone some fabulous Canadian literature. One lucky winner will be able to choose which book they would like me to send them. Here are the choices (click on title to find out more about the book): A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (bought at library sale) Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Last River Child by Lori Ann Bloomfield The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden (bought at library sale) Two of the books were bought at a library sale as mentioned. They are still in good condition but are obviously well-loved and do still have the library stickers on them. The other t...
Read more

"Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home" by Esi Edugyan

Image
“But where are you from, really?” This is a question that Canadians of all walks of life are often asked.  Part of our identity as Canadians is that we all come from somewhere else, and no matter how long ago, it is a defining part of who we are.   But for many people, this question is about more than where their family came to Canada from.  For many, it brings about a question of home and belonging.  These are the ideas that Esi Edugyan explored in her 2013 Henry Kreisel Memorial Lecture, Dreaming of Elsewhere: Observations on Home .  Born in Canada to parents from Ghana, Esi Edugyan has travelled to and lived in various countries, all the while searching for her identity and coming to understand the meaning of home. As an author, Edugyan also reflects on Canadian literature and the notion of the “Canadian story.”  Her wildly successful novel, Half-Blood Blues , was set outside of Canada, and something she often heard was that it was not a t...
Read more