Title: Shoulder Season
Author: Christina Clancy
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2021
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 336
Rating: 2/5 stars
Reading Challenges:
The small town of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is an unlikely location for a Playboy Resort, and nineteen-year old Sherri Taylor is an unlikely bunny. Growing up in neighboring East Troy, Sherri plays the organ at the local church and has never felt comfortable in her own skin. But when her parents die in quick succession, she leaves the only home she’s ever known for the chance to be part of a glamorous slice of history. In the winter of 1981, in a costume two sizes too small, her toes pinched by stilettos, Sherri joins the daughters of dairy farmers and factory workers for the defining experience of her life.
Living in the “bunny hutch”—Playboy’s version of a college dorm—Sherri gets her education in the joys of sisterhood, the thrill of financial independence, the magic of first love, and the heady effects of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. But as spring gives way to summer, Sherri finds herself caught in a romantic triangle—and the tragedy that ensues will haunt her for the next forty years.
From the Midwestern prairie to the California desert, from Wisconsin lakes to the Pacific Ocean, this is a story of what happens when small town life is sprinkled with stardust, and what we lose—and gain—when we leave home. With a heroine to root for and a narrative to get lost in, Christina Clancy's Shoulder Season is a sexy, evocative tale, drenched in longing and desire, that captures a fleeting moment in American history with nostalgia and heart.
Ugh! We picked this as a fun summer read for book club, but it definitely was not that. The cover is extremely deceiving and the even the summary makes this book sound like it’s going to be a story of a woman growing and finding herself. But! I just didn’t see the growth. For starters, Sherri is not a great person. She’s not in a great place when the story begins, and I totally understand that. However, I was expecting Sherri to grow throughout the novel. She got worse. She became a not great person. Most of the book highlighted just how awful humans can be toward each other. I was alternately angry with the characters and bored with the storyline. I just didn’t care at all about what happened.
Next up on the TBR pile:
