Susan's Last Summer

I will admit right up front that I am friends with the author of Susan's Last Summer - Marilyn Schroeder. I will also say that if I didn't like the book, I would just not blog about it.

This is the story of two Susan's. The younger Susan longs to be a writer, but during the depression a more practical factory job seems to be her future. Her father lobbies her pragmatist mother into letting Susan take a job helping an older woman, who is a painter. This give the young woman one last summer to devote to her writing. The second Susan is the painter. This is probably the last summer of her life.

I enjoyed seeing how the two women influenced each other, inspired each other and grew a friendship over the course of the "last summer". The novella reminded me in a way of Cather.

The book is available from Lulu Press http://www.lulu.com/