Summer In The City by Fiona Collins

 

Summer In The City by Fiona Collins.

Published in e-book 27th May 2021 and in paperback 8th July 2021 by Transworld.

From the cover of the book:

Prue is not someone you would notice willingly. She likes to keep herself to herself and fade into the background. If it were not for the birthmark on her left cheek, she might actually succeed at becoming invisible.

She spends all of her time with her blind father, Vince. Together, they sit in silence and ignore the vibrant city just on their doorstep. Life is as good as what's on TV. That is, until something forces them both to go outside and see what they have been missing. For Vince, that means discovering how to see the world without his sight. For Prue, that means finding the courage to finally love and be loved in return.

A story about family, friendship and facing your fears head on, this is a heart-warming story that will stay with you long after you have finished the last page.

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Prue likes to fade into the background, although her attempts to be invisible are somewhat hindered by the prominent strawberry birthmark on her left cheek, that unfortunately brings more than a little unwanted attention. She and her blind father Vince, both seem to do little else but keep themselves to themselves these days - battered by the past, they have taken to sitting in silence in their flat, ignoring the bustling world outside their splendid Edwardian windows, and reflecting on their own private thoughts.

Until the day Prue is forced out of her rut by the suicide of a young woman waiting on the same crowded Tube platform as her. Although Prue didn't actually see the young woman fall, she is compelled to find out why someone with her her life ahead of her would take her own life, and she takes up the offer of a free counselling session to help those traumatised by the tragic event - a session that makes her think about the way she has allowed her own and her father's lives to shrink as they have.

Spurred on by an idea from the counsellor, Prue and Vince decide to venture outside on day trips around London. With Prue acting as Vince's eyes, they both begin to realise that they have been missing so much, and in doing so learn to open up to not only the world around them, with the chances it offers, but also to each other.

Summer in the City is the most wonderful of books about love, family, friendship, how the weight of secrets can divide people, and how facing your fears can transform your life. The relationship between Prue and Vince is so beautifully written by Fiona Collins, and I both laughed and cried so many times as they learned how to open up to each other over the course of this book, sharing their observations, their fears, their secrets, and their hopes and dreams. 

However, this is not just a heart warming emotional journey, although Collins does this so well, because at the centre of this tale there are a wealth of dark themes that she begs us to examine too. An obvious one is the way Prue has had to deal with discrimination because of her appearance and how this has shaped her view on life, and what she feels she deserves from it. But we are also treated to the heart breaking gut punches dished out by threads dealing with abandonment, loss in it's many forms, toxic relationships, misplaced guilt and shame, which skilfully tie everything together and give substance to the piece.

It is a rare and lovely thing to come across a book that mixes light and shade as well as Collins does in this story, all the while drawing the reader towards a perfect, uplifting ending of forgiveness, reconciliation and hope for the future, which left me sobbing (in a good way) - an ending which shows both Prue and Vince have been affected by blindness in different ways, but that their love for each other can teach them how to see the light. I adored the whole book from start to finish, and will be thinking about these characters for a very long time to come.

Summer In The City is available to buy now in e-book, and in paperback from 8th July, from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Izzie Ghaffari-Parker at Transworld Books for sending me a paperback proof of this book in return for an honest review, and to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Fiona Collins grew up in an Essex village and after stints in Hong Kong and London returned to the Essex countryside where she lives with her husband and three children. She has a degree in Film and Literature and has had many former careers including TV presenting in Hong Kong, traffic and weather presenter for BBC local radio and film/TV extra.