The Girls of Summer

April 3, 2023
Journalist Bishop’s promising first novel is a timely exploration of the way predatory older men seduce and manipulate young women. After Greek island hopping for seven weeks with her friend Caroline, 17-year-old Rachel meets 30-ish Alistair and becomes obsessed with him. Soon, Alistair invites the insecure Rachel to parties at a wealthy friend’s villa with her friends, who enter into affairs that slowly descend into drug-fueled disaster. Alistair conceals his practiced procurement of women on this “orgy island”—the real-life parallels are unmistakable—with protests to Rachel that he loves her. She remains in Alistair’s thrall for more than a decade, ultimately destroying her marriage to another man before shocking revelations from her friends about Alistair finally open her eyes. The sense of place is ultra-vivid, though the narrative sags at points and the characters verge on stereotypes. Still, the author’s unflinching dissection of male abuse of power and the strength of female solidarity deserves attention.

Starred review from May 1, 2023
Bishop makes her debut with this lyrical, emotional novel. Rachel is only 17 when she arrives on an unnamed, magical Greek island. Just before she is due to leave, she finds herself in a seedy bar owned by a local property magnate, Henry Taylor. Seduced by an older man, Alistair, who works for Taylor, Rachel can't bring herself to return to her native England. She bonds with the beautiful girls on Taylor's payroll, while falling desperately for Alistair. Years later, Rachel visits the island with her husband, and memories of that summer come flooding back. She contacts Alistair, desperate to bring back those heady feelings. But that summer wasn't as ideal as Rachel remembers, and Alistair isn't as perfect as he seemed. The parties, drugs, and sex damaged her, and she must reckon with that. Moving back and forth between Rachel's past and her present, Bishop reveals the full story of that transformative, traumatic summer. Reminiscent of HBO's hit The White Lotus, Bishop's tale will draw readers in with its realistic descriptions of the island. The obvious read-alike is My Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth Russell (2020), and the plot-driven tension will appeal to fans of psychological suspense.

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