- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (18 Jun 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747552762
- ISBN-13: 978-0747552765
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.4 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,710,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
In her debut novel, My Summer of Love, Helen Cross has crafted a highly original and often shocking tale of two 15-year-olds spending one long, hot summer together. Mona is a heavy drinker, a fruit-machine addict and aspiring criminal, while Tamsin is a spoilt, rich girl, living in her parents' luxurious country home on the posh side of town. Although hailing from opposite ends of the social spectrum, both girls are victims of parental break-ups as well as, it would seem, suffering recent bereavements. When Tamsin's parents are away, Mona moves in and together the girls embark upon a wild relationship that is both beautifully romantic and shockingly violent. Set against the backdrop of a Yorkshire town in 1984, the text is seasoned with well-chosen motifs of the period: references to the miners' strike, the fear of nuclear attack, New Romantic fashions and the spectre of a serial killer on the loose.
It is this authenticity and humanity that separates this novel from other familiar coming-of-age tales. While novels covering this ground are often refracted through a lens of cosy, middle-aged nostalgia, My Summer of Love doesn't flinch from communicating the sheer awfulness of the girls' antics. As disturbing as the denouement is, the whole story is shot through with a black humour that, while not diminishing the sense of horror, conveys the teenage condition in all its embarrassing absurdity. Mona's obsession with removing bodily hair, Tamsin's weird culinary concoctions and their drunken attempts at dancing all rekindle cringe-inducing recollections of that period in your lives. Disturbing and funny in equal measure, Cross has succeeded in creating two vibrant and distinctive characters who linger in our memory long after the last page has been read. --Jane Morris
Vogue
'[An] Outstanding debut...with sharp black comedy.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this after reading Helen Cross's second book, The Secrets She Keeps, which I really loved. This is great too. It's beautifully written, full of dreamy images, humour, deftly drawn characters and stays with you long after you've finished it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The book began with so much gritty northern scenery and teenage angst. So far, so OK. Soon after, I found myself pulled into the story and, unsentimentally, caring very much what happened to the characters. I left the book shaken. The feelings and images haven't quickly disappeared (as they have done when I've finished many other books).
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Brilliantly written in East Yorkshire slang. Great references to the town that Helen was brought up in (I went to school with her). You feel you know the characters really well, and feel empathy for them. It makes you scared to read the next chapter for fear of what they'll do next. Helen was always wonderfully theatrical in her youth, and this stunning debut novel proves her intelligence, imagination and guts that we all knew she had. Well done Helen (from Gillian Madden as was)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Dark, disturbing and beautiful. My kind of book.
This is an unusual story. Told from the point of view of Mona, a young woman with alcohol and eating issues, we're quickly plunged into a different world. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Maddy Reading
not great
I wouldn't want to go to the pub with the author, she would talk about how many calories there are in a pint. Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2009 by Bean
Watch film first, then read this.
I don't think without the imagery of the film I would have gotten into the book, it really helped me imagine the characters even though some are very different than in the film or... Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2009 by H. Flynn
Tension and fear in teenageland
A very grim tale of two 15 year old girls going mad together. It's normal for teenagers to be bored, especially if you live some place small. Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2008 by Lou Ice
Strangely Haunting
This was a strange book. There's no doubt that Helen Cross can write and the idea for the story was a good one, that certainly intrigued me and kept me reading until the end. Read more
Published on 7 May 2003
Girls are scary
A compulsive read. Although one review said that it was similar in style and menace to A Clockwork Orange, I thought it not as threatening or shocking for much of the book, rather... Read more
Published on 23 Jan 2003 by Stewart J O
Dull, dull, dull
I rarely give up on a book but after 80 pages of this I was rapidly loosing the will to live let alone turn another page! Read more
Published on 2 Aug 2002 by Lendrick
wicked, funny, smart and sexy, perfect for summer
I loved this so much! It's so accurate about girls and how they are, and it's so funny too. I also thought it really good that the book is set in the NOrth of England where I live... Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2002
A remarkable first novel
This is a remarkable first novel. Its crafted structure will repay careful reading and rereading. The author maintains a tension throughout and there is a good deal of humour,... Read more
Published on 6 April 2002
A must-read for Summer
I found My Summer of Love a gripping and macabre read. The portrayal of the two wild all-drinking, all-disco dancing teenage girls is deeply disturbing but so, so real. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2001
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