In its now two years of existence, the biggest criticism I’ve had of The Summer We’ve Had is the double plot twist at the end. People have called it ‘phony’, a ‘cop-out’, and said that it pissed them off. It’s lost the book a few stars on various Goodreads reviews. And, as all authors do, I’ve had to accept it. There’s not a whole lot I can do to change it now, after all.
But I can explain it. And, two years on from its release, that’s what I’ve decided to do. So for those of you who’ve read the book and wondered why I decided to put Cass and Felicia through the wringer juuuust that little bit more towards the end – this is for you.
Fairly obviously, this blog post is going to contain spoilers. So if you’ve not read it, or if you’ve read it but can’t quite remember what happens and want to re-read it, stop here. Do not scroll any further.
TURN BACK NOW! (And go and read the book.)
Just in case you’re still reading and have forgotten, I’ll set the scene. Cornwall, 2018. Cass, suffering with depression and PTSD following the passing of her mother, moves down to Cornwall for a fresh start. She starts working at the local school, and quickly strikes up a friendship with her next door neighbours, Felicia and her mother Mabel. Their friendship turns out to be no ordinary one, as Felicia has Dissociative Identity Disorder, with five individual people sharing her body and mind due to abuse she suffered as a child. Cass’s friendship with dominant alter Heather grows deeper and deeper, eventually blossoming into a romance. This romance is also no ordinary one, as all four of the other alters have their own problems and inner battles to contend with, but Cass grows closer to them despite this. After some initial teething problems, Cass and Heather settle into their stride, but Cass has been sitting on a secret. When her mother Beverley died by suicide, she left a letter, which Cass has been unable to open. Heather’s love helps her feel strong enough to open it. And when she does open it… well, ‘shit hits fan’, as I wrote on the calendar I kept in my notes to track their timeline.
Beverley’s letter reveals that Cass was conceived of a one-night stand, and it was her father getting back in contact that tipped her over the edge. When she includes his details, Cass realises that he is a man she recognises. From Felicia and Mabel’s family pictures. It’s Felicia’s father. Making the two of them… biological sisters.
In the first version of the story, the book ended there. Cass and Heather break up, and Cass moves back to London. But as my ever-wise writer friend Chloe Keto pointed out when she beta read it… that wouldn’t necessarily be classed as a romance novel. Not without a happy ending. There had been a recent controversy in the Sapphic fiction world at the time, in which another author (I can’t remember who) released a book that was marketed as a romance, but didn’t have a happily-ever-after. Mine was always intended to be a romance – that was non-negotiable. But if I wanted it to be a romance, while still maintaining that initial twist, I needed to make some drastic changes.
I believe it was Chloe who actually came up with the idea of the double twist. If I remember rightly. (If I remember wrongly… sorry, Chloe!) I was still hell-bent on keeping the initial twist, for reasons I will explain in a moment, but I couldn’t possibly see a way to salvage their situation. I was actually about to scrap the whole book, at least temporarily, because I wasn’t budging on the romance aspect. And then Chloe – who by this point was almost as invested as me, I think – hit on it. Twist the whole situation back on itself. Make it so that Felicia’s father wasn’t her biological father. And then make them wait an excruciating amount of time to get the DNA results back… and then give them their happy ending. It was the perfect solution for me, maintaining both . So I suppose this is another way of saying that Chloe Keto saved The Summer We’ve Had from the Sapphic scrapheap. (If you want to go check out her books as a way of saying thank you, I’m certainly not going to stop you.)
I do see their point. There is a lot going on in this book – mental health rep, ace rep, trauma, discussions of suicide, and a healthy dollop of relationship-related troubles just to top it off. For those who don’t like angst, or who expected something a little bit smoother, I can imagine that it would make your head spin, and quite possibly make you angry at me for putting them through so much.
But the way I see it – and here is why I wanted to keep the initial twist – nobody is immune to life’s weird and wacky ways. Not even Cass and Felicia. They certainly deserve smooth sailing, of course, but real life just doesn’t work like that. When I was writing the book, my life consisted of one drama after another, and I think it shows here. I thought, I want to write a book that is realistic. The fates wouldn’t necessarily go easy on somebody, even if they’ve already been through hell and back.
It may seem harsh, but that was how I felt, and how I still feel. And I won’t lie, I also wanted to write a book that people would remember. That would wreak havoc with their hearts, and leave them with a story they’ll never forget. Something that would have them laughing and crying, often within pages of each other. And I think I did that. I mean, I distinctly remember Chloe texting me ‘OMG, I’m crying!!!!’ at one stage during her second beta read. Oops.
I think it put me on the map, so to speak. It drew people’s attention to me, and to DID. And despite the criticism… it’s still my most popular book, if you go by ratings and readings. Although A Different Kind Of Pride is rapidly catching up with it! And I’ve had some truly wonderful reviews alongside that little bit of criticism. Whatever happens, there’s always that.