Three Weeks in the Summer by Paul Marriner

From Goodreads

Innocence Lost, Grief Found:

1976. Richard (16) has finished his exams and a long, hot summer beckons, but his crush on the new girl in town is unrequited. He leaves the stifling suburb to spend time in The New Forest with Dudek, his Czech uncle. Dudek is being cared for by Anika, a vivacious young Czech woman. Anika introduces him to village life and when he meets Jennifer, a girl his age, he finds his attentions torn between them. Teenage emotions and needs are laid bare as relationships with the two girls develop.

The summer’s experiences intensify as forest fires threaten the village and Richard learns more of the events that led to his father’s death. As the summer break ends, Richard has been touched by love and death and understands more of his father’s history.

The story concludes the following New Year when Richard returns to The New Forest, needing to pick up where the summer ended. 

My thoughts

I was 9 years old in 1976, but it was the summer of the heatwave to beat all heatwaves. This story brought lots of memories of that year back to me.

This is a coming of age story about Richard a 16 year old, who is finding his feet where young ladies and romance is concerned. Richard leaves his home in the suburbs to go and spend time with his Uncle in a village in the New Forest.

As Richard gets used to village life, he finds himself torn between two young women Anika and Jennifer. He has varying feelings for both and this story explores the developing relationships between them and the pitfalls that may occur between young people.

I enjoyed this story, I felt that the Author had a way of investing the readers time and emotions in the lives of the characters, both the main ones and the secondary ones. It has an innocence that is matched by the innocence of the inexperienced in love and life Richard.

I gave this a 4 stars or 8/10. My thanks to the Author via TBConFB for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.