Read 1/2 of the book and just couldn't continue. I'm sure it's a great book, just couldn't keep my interest

Thanks to netgalley for providing an ARC of this book, for a fair and honest review.

I couldn't put this one down. The characters, the plot, the atmosphere - all combined for a compelling read.

Perhaps I found it easy to relate, since I grew up in a town in the deep south, right around the same time - so Tallulah's experiences, the attitudes in town, even the difficulties of maintaining a relationship with her African-American best friend, after they stopped being little kids all rang very true. It also brought back memories of the time.

I found the portrayals of the 4 siblings particularly painful, but realistic. These are all ways that people react to this sort of home life, and it all seemed painfully real. I also liked the fact that there was no phony "happily ever after" - the main character and her brother Griff are going to be okay, but all the issues are not neatly wrapped up with a pretty glittery bow at the end.

This was definitely a 5 star read for me.

Tallulah James' life from the beginning was either cursed or maligned with the stars. Her parents were all over the map from a dysfunctional bipolar (though that wasn't known at the time of this particular time in history) father or a never there mother whose causes meant more than she did. She bonded with her older brother, Griff, - a mentor and father figure in her life and becomes a madonna to her younger brother, Walton. Walton's twin becomes the selfish diva who leaves the family far behind. Gran who struggles to hold the family together and then cuts the apron string to Tallulah when she needs her the most?

The book is based on a the theme of mental illness and how far ranging the explosion can be when a family falls apart. Would Tallulah have become the woman she is if this hadn't happened? Did growing up in the age of "Free Love" have an effect on her parent's life and the tragic outcome?

This novel was very well written and you felt you were in Mississippi as you read it, eating crawfish and mayhew jelly. However, the issue comes up with a specific part of the book shortly after the family is dissolved.
The novel jumps back and forth - though easily followed between coming home to Mississippi from California after her youngest brother is accused of murder. Being gone nine years has had an effect on not only her but on where she lived and the family and what her family legacy will be. Tallulah becomes all consumed with her work in California, but instead of showing what this work means to us and how she got this job, it insteads muddies the water with her first love affair when she arrives in California and finds a drifter that she falls for, moves in with, but can't bring herself to love because what if it ends up like her father and mother and this is repeated over and over again during this very brief part of the eighteen months after she leaves home. It's unnecessary and talks nothing about how she went from LA to San Francisco outside of how she went there following Cody. There's nothing about the aftermath of their relationship, how she got such a great job with the firm she is working for, and it just felt out of place.

The characters themselves were each fully fleshed out (except for Cody) and it made for interesting reading. I would consider reading more of Susan Crandall's work in the future as her handling of the sensitivity of mental illness in the 1970s and how the characters each fought their own battles trying to grow up in a family of secrets and shame.

This book was given to me to honestly review by NetGalley.

This is a well written story of a family in the grasp of mental illness. The father suffers from manic-depressive disorder and though never stated in the story, the mother was narcissistic at best. But in the 1960s mental health wasn’t addressed. It was covered up, excused, or ignored. In the case of the James’ family, it was considered a familial trait. In the middle of all this is the main character, Tallulah James, who is forced into the role of raising her younger siblings and being a caretaker for her father during the times of shadows and hurricanes. I love that description of him! The book follows three timelines, and as in many cases, I tended to prefer one the best. In this case, I wanted more of the childhood history and the present. The middle years while Tallulah was off in California just felt like a filler to me. But, I think I will need to read some more books by Ms. Crandall as I did enjoy her character development and her writing style.

I LOVED Whistling Past the Graveyard and was overjoyed to find a new Susan Crandall novel. My enthusiasm was warranted. This latest novel gave me everything I love in a good read - strong, resilient, fiery female character, dysfunctional family and the South. Tallulah Mae James (can we talk about that fantastic name??) returns home to Mississippi when she sees her estranged brother's mug shot on television. Tallulah has spent years distancing herself from her family in an effort to become 'normal.'' Her childhood was far from 'normal.' The four Jones siblings were left to navigate childhood, mostly on their own. Their days were shadowed by their father's "shiny time' 'hurricane time' and 'blue streaks.' They struggled to understand a neglectful, distant mother who disappears for stretches of time and insists the children call her "Margo." They were blessed with their Grandma James as a constant but even she kept secrets about "things that must never be mentioned." The story is advanced through a back and forth narrative told from 11 year old Tallulah's perspective and present day. I found this to be very effective in moving the story forward and explaining the motivations of present day Tallulah. The author describes the setting and place beautifully. I was immediately transported - as I was in Whistling Past the Graveyard. Crandall tackles some tough subjects in this novel: racism, mental illness, PTSD. I especially appreciated the contrast of how childhood Tallulah and adult adult Tallulah viewed and understood these events in her life. I loved going on this journey with Tallulah and appreciated the author's handling of the sibling's stories. The ending isn't neat, tidy and happy ever after. It's complicated, sad, but hopeful - just like real life. Tallulah', not unlike myself, proves you can go home again....but the journey may be anything but smooth.

5 southern family secret stars to The Myth of Perpetual Summer, my first favorite read of summer! 🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Set in Mississippi in the 1960s and 70s, Tallulah James’ story is memorable and haunting. Her parents have a tumultuous relationship sparked by a self-absorbed, yet bleeding-heart when it comes to social causes outside her own home, mother, and a father with an at times debilitating mental illness.

The town is always talking about the high profile Jameses, including lurid family secrets past and present. Tallulah, though not the oldest child, takes the helm of the ship when it comes to protecting her fragile family. Her right hand is her steadfast brother, Griff, and her left hand is her quintessentially southern paternal grandmother.

Explosive events cause Tallulah to leave her family behind, and the story actually opens with her return to Mississippi years later, once again trying to shoulder the responsibility of repairing and bolstering her family. The Myth of Perpetual Summer is then told through past and present chapters allowing the reader to get to know the James family, good, bad, and in between, loving and full of life.

Tallulah is head strong and morally convicted, and she has the most genuine love for each of her family members. In return, she is loved back by the likes of her older brother, Griff, who could not have been more nurturing and caring, her younger brother, Walden, innocent and yearning for his place, as well as, Dharma, her younger sister, a bit dramatic and self-absorbed like their mother. I also cannot forget Ross, Griff’s best friend, and Tallulah’s friend, too. What a love Ross is, and a true, faithful friend to this family.

The family is dysfunctional, yes, but there is so much love and sacrifice for one another. Set on a backdrop of the major events of the time, the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war, The Myth of Perpetual Summer is a huggable book, one where a family’s secrets may be larger than life, but the thread of love that unites them may be enough to absolve their tragic past.

Thank you Susan Crandall, a most gifted storyteller, Gallery Books, and Netgalley for the complimentary copy.

A stunning story of dysfunctional families, and the lies and secrets that can tear them apart. I loved the colourful characters which made this a wonderful story!

A captavting southren coming of age story that rings with the tone of the help and the education of dixi dupree.

Being from the deep south, I understand the complications, lies, heartache, deception and the need to leave even though you love your family. Most families have secrets that they had rather not talk about. The family name is usually very important to many people.
Tulie is the oldest girl with Griff the oldest son, there's a set of younger twins as well. The have all left except for Walden. He stayed and joined a cult . A true believer. Tulie renews her friendships with a few people but knows she can never live there again. Dharma,, one of the twins was adopted by an uncle and Walden was not. Dharma is in New York and doesn't want anyone to know she is part of the family. Their Dad has died and their mother seems to be off in a cult in Arizona. This is a wonderful book about family and what makes them. And sound chances A definite page turner, Well written. A summer read that you won't soon forget. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review and no compensation otherwise.

The Myth of Perpetual Summer was really good. I liked the characters (well, most of them - I'm looking at you, copper, and your little boy too); they were well developed and interesting to read about. The only complaint I had was not being able to find out the ending of the court case/brother's issues. So the book gets a 4.5 from me.

The Myth of Perpetual Summer was a difficult read for me. I really did not like or connect with any of the characters. I read about half the book before I decided that I simply did not want to finish it.

Tallulah knows that there is something not right about her family. Her Father (Drayton) has episodes of “hurricanes” and “shadows.” He is bipolar but not much is known about the illness and how to treat it in1958.

Hurricanes describe his manic phases, when he is very energized, doesn’t sleep for days and his brain races with ideas. He also can be, paranoid, obsessive and impulsively buys things they can’t afford and don’t need.

In contrast, Shadows are the depressive phases when Drayton is feeling tormented, in agony, despondent and hopeless. Tallulah describes the shadow phase as “...the worst mood of them all” and also concedes that “he isn’t just moody, but broken.”

“His behavior. Hummingbird or slug. So full of energy you can’t scrape him off the ceiling, or buried in anguish so deep he won’t get out of bed.”

Talullah’s Mother has her children call her Margo. She hardly acts like a mother — instead, Margo is devoted to supporting causes like freedom for Algeria. Sometimes she abandons her family for months, which sends Drayton into shadow time. Tallulah can’t understand why Algeria is more important to Margo than her children.

“Griff says you can get used to a sharp stick in the eye if it’s there long enough. But I can’t get used to Margo not being around at all. I know it’s stupid to miss her, because she wasn’t home much and didn’t hardly do anything for us anyway.”

As a young child, Tallulah engages in wishful thinking, preferring to think that Margo’s devotion to these causes is a temporary phase which will pass. She is in denial of who her Mother is and has a fantasized vision of her transforming into the ideal mother. Tallulah dreams of Margo loving her, seeing her and genuinely caring about her.

“Someday the French will get out of Algeria and Margo can stop protesting and just be our Momma again.”

“I keep looking at the doorway, hoping Margo will come back, give me a big hug, tell me how much she missed me and promise never to leave for so long again. But the doorway stays empty.”

“If I can show Margo how much I need her, maybe she’ll not only stay home but she’ll also actually start seeing me.”

On the rare occasions when Margo is home and Drayton is “normal” (not in a hurricane or shadow time), they argue, fight and sometimes throw things. It is far from a peaceful household. In describing her chaotic household, Tallulah says “...there is no hand on the rudder of our family.”

“Truth be, Daddy and Margo can have some real window rattlers.”

She relies on two characters for support, her grandmother and her older brother Griff. Gran seems to be the glue that holds this family together. Her brother comforts her and guides her through the land mines that are her family. Tallulah and Griff both worry that they will become like their mother or father.

Tallulah dreams of escaping her dysfunctional family and being in control of her own life. She lives her life in the hope of experiencing that freedom. In a sense she lives in the future but her past haunts her.

She questions the role of family and wonders if it’s to choke or to bind. As a child, Tallulah just wants to escape from her family and never look back. But she wonders if family can be a positive influence and play an important role in her life.


I greatly enjoyed reading “The Myth of Perpetual Summer” and highly recommend it. It’s a coming-of-age story as well as a search for self. Tallulah, both as a child and an adult, is a strong and compelling character. I found her to be very likable and felt I really got to know her through these pages. Her inner dialogue is extremely revealing as she tries to cope with her family and the world. She contemplates issues of abandonment and isolation. As a child, Tallulah engages in wishful, magical thinking as a coping mechanism.

The story alternates between Tallulah’s childhood (1958-1960s) and present day (1972-1974) in a seamless way. The writing is excellent and the story pulls you in, not letting go until the last page. I particularly appreciated Susan Crandall’s style of writing and her colorful, descriptive language:

“Granny told her to get down off her high horse before she got a nosebleed. In a polite voice, of course.”

“Dharma never hid when our parents fought, she made her own closet inside her head.”

“I feel better already, just being out of our house. Sometimes it feels so heavy I’m surprised it doesn’t collapse on us while we’re sleeping.”

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this up because it was by a local author and I was curious. I'm glad I did. It was a novel steeped in summer and family. Family secrets tear apart Tallulah's family and she runs off to find a new life after a family tragedy. She avoids contact with everyone from her hometown, including all her family, until her younger brother is arrested for murder. The author moves us comfortably back and forth between the past and the present, almost as if we are remembering the past as Tallulah allows herself to. It's like a Kate Morton book set in a southern summer, which despite the title does seem perpetual. It was a great read, with the slightly heavy-handed metaphors and allusions to the title barely distracting from the story.

Tallulah James' life begins as a young girl living in the late 1950's in rural Lamoyne, Mississippi. Her mother neglects her and the entire family. The children call her by her first name, Margo and are resentful because she is so obsessed with other causes that she barely has time for them or their father. Tallulah's father, although a tenured professor at the local university, suffers from mental illness and keeps a liquor bottle as company as her childhood "progresses". Her grandmother is the only stable adult in her life but Tallulah's struggles to preserve her family unity prove to be to great to her and she flees to California to save her own sanity. But when a family tragedy strikes in Lamoyne in 1972, she returns. She collides head-on with the guilt she felt for leaving and the manner in which she left.

This is the first book I've read by Ms. Crandall but it won't be my last. I really enjoy Southern fiction--especially of this time period and this book is well-written. I connected with Tallulah's feelings of helplessness and abandonment, though I did not experience this in my childhood. I think I would have enjoyed the book even more if it were written in chronological order, rather than back-and-forth time periods of her life.

** Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book. My review is voluntary.

This is the story of the James family that is set in the deep south in the town of Lamoyne Mississippi during the tumultuous times of the 60's. Talulah is a teenage girl who was raised not to listen to gossip, and raised to pretend that it doesn't exist. Unpleasantness was glossed over with and swept under the rug. Many of the family responsibilities fell on Talulah's shoulders because her mother was detached and followed and live and let them learn by their mistakes approach feeling that life lessons are basically good for you. Talulah's father suffered from manic-depressive disorder, and his mental illness had a great impact on the entire family. Crandall does a wonderful job of showing the impact of mental illness and the toll that it can take on one's entire family. Crandall's writing, and descriptives throughout the book are velvety smooth, and the reader is drawn into the lives of the characters and the events throughout the book.
The reader is taken on Talulah's journey of coming of age as she journey's from the deep south across the country to the west coast of California to find herself and escape from the rigid ways that she was raised. A tragic event occurs and after being estranged from her family,Talulah finds herself back home in Lamoyne Mississippi. How will Talulah react when she returns home to the plantation? Can people really change, or are personalities firmly developed early in life, and are our life choices forever shaped by our early life events?

Lately I seem to be reading books with a similar theme; children who need their parents and parents who are too busy with their causes to notice. Parents who spin out of control. A child who tries to control the downward spiraling, who tries to hold it all together, who hopes for the unattainable.

Turn the page and meet:

Drayton James, a father who is mentally ill and ultimately to be recognized as a manic depressive.

Margo James, a mother who embraces causes but rarely her children. Another proof that the ability to conceive does not justify the conception.

Lavada James, the Grandmother who always holds her head up no matter the stink or scandal. She is the defender of the James family honor no matter that it has been in tatters for generations.

Griff James the older brother who ignores his parents, wishes to be away from the torment and insanity found at Pearl River Plantation, and all of Lamoyne, Mississippi. He would have fled but for his love for his sister and his need to try to defend her.

The James twins, Dharma who deals with the emotional trauma by always performing and Walden, the neediest of all, who will join any group hoping to belong to something.

Tallulah James, the child who cares, and cares until she believes she has to leave in order to preserve her sanity.

The writing was solid. The characterizations were spot on, especially the town bully, the small-town police officer and his perception of power, the kind and good-looking stranger. The alternating timelines was effective - I raced through some and struggled with others. The ending was a disappointment.

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC.

Part coming of age tale, part family saga, this work of historical fiction put me in mind of V.C. Andrews and I mean her true style when she was alive, not the ghost written books that came out after her death. Although on second thought she would have made it shorter to stretch it into a trilogy. Tallulah James is on her way back to a home she never expected to return to, after news reports that her brother has been arrested for murder. On the way, and once there she recalls what it was like to grow up in such tumultuous times, and the events that led her to flee at such a young age. The story touches on civil rights, mental illness, first loves and family secrets.

Thank you NetGalley for an early release copy of The Myth of Perpetual Summer in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released Jun 19, 2018.

Crandall's book is a coming of age story set in the deep south in the 60's., a tumultuous time time and a tumultuous family.. As a teenager, Tallulah James tries to hold the family together as events and mental illness tear it apart. She is torn between her Gran's feeling of keeping family business within the family, her parents' explosives and emotional relationship, and keeping siblings and orchards together. and her own personal survival.

While I did enjoy the book, there was no real one character that I latched onto. That aspect probably did not affect my rating of the book. Each one was developed enough to understand his/her personality. The one character who had the most insight into the family was Tallulah's best friend, Maisie. She was Talulah's anchor. Like many southern-themed books, some personalities were larger than life.. The book's pace was good without being rushed. Life moves a little slower in the South.

In keeping with the era, knowledge, action/reaction, mental illness was something someone "caught" like a cold and families kept it hush hush. I kept thinking back to my own family and "what would society think?" mentality.

For all of us looking for a "perpetual summer", I would recommend this as a quick summer read.

The Myth of Perpetual Summer grabbed me from the prologue and didn't let me go until the final page. This book was at once engaging and charming, and horrifying and suspenseful. The book opens on Tallulah James (Lulie to her brothers and sisters) in 1972 watching her younger brother's arrest in New Orleans. She speeds back from California to where she had escaped 14 years ago. "...my childhood has snaked through time and wrapped around my throat." She encounters old friends and enemies and reconnects with her grandmother as she strives to help her incarcerated brother. And Tallulah revisits the past, through flashbacks to 1958 where the events unfold that sent her running away from her family without a backward glance. I really don't want to give too much away - read for yourself about Tallulah and her family and Ross, their friend, who could be much more. Susan Crandall does a stellar job of describing the Deep South and the social situation of the times as well as the strife caused by integration in region that was so set in its ways. She also gently, but truthfully handles the struggles of mental illness and the way it was considered/ignored before we learned more about its causes and treatments. Crandall is a fantastic writer telling a gripping story. The characters were so real that my heart ached for them, and cheered when things seemed to turn around. The ending was satisfying, yet true to the characters and the story. I can't wait to read other books by this author!

As perhaps the most “normal“ person in the entire dysfunctional James clan, Tallulah James has endured things in her young life that no child should ever experience. Her father, in his own way, loves her and her three siblings, her mother, quite frankly, would have done better not to have had any children at all, and the grandmother she adores handles everything by just pretending it’s not there and not speaking about it. Tallulah must survive lifelong bullying, trying to overcome her family’s sketchy history, caring for her younger siblings and taking on responsibilities that would better be left to the adults, so-called, in the family. But Tallulah is a survivor, and Tallulah is hurt, and angry, and disillusioned about life, but she does her best With what she’s been dealt and tries to find the good in things, scarce as it may be. This book captured me, I found myself thinking about it often when I wasn’t able to read, and anxious to get back to it when I had to attend to the mundane things of life. This, to me, is a sure sign of a great book. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy to read. I would highly recommend this book to everyone who’s looking for an escape with characters you’ll grow to care about and lots of things to ponder.