Audiobook Sample
Listen to the sample to experience the story.
Please wait while we verify your browser...
- Title: Every Summer After
- Author: Carley Fortune
- Narrator: Aj Bridel
- Length: 09:38:00
- Version: Abridged
- Release Date: 10/05/2022
- Publisher: Penguin Audio
- Genre: Romance, Fiction & Literature, Contemporary, Coming of Age, Contemporary Women
- ISBN13: 9.78E+12
The first time I pressed play on Aj Bridel’s narration of “Every Summer After”, I was sitting on a rickety dock in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, watching the sunset paint the lake with the same golden hues Carley Fortune so vividly describes. The water lapped at the wooden posts in perfect rhythm with Bridel’s cadence, and in that moment, I understood why this audiobook has become the soundtrack of so many summer romances.
Fortune’s debut novel unfolds like a well-worn photo album, each chapter a snapshot of Percy and Sam’s relationship across six formative summers. As someone who’s documented love stories across six continents, I recognized the authenticity in how Fortune captures those tiny, heart-stopping moments – the accidental brush of fingers while passing a wine glass, the way shared laughter can feel like a secret language. Bridel’s narration elevates these moments with remarkable emotional intelligence, her voice shifting subtly as Percy grows from a self-conscious teen to a guarded woman carrying the weight of regret.
What struck me most was how Fortune uses sensory details to build atmosphere – the scent of pine needles baking in the sun, the sticky sweetness of melted ice cream on fingers, the particular hush of a lakeside town after midnight. Listening to Bridel articulate these descriptions transported me back to my own summers in Oaxaca, where the grandmother I lived with would tell stories that made the humid air smell of cinnamon and the fireflies dance to her words. The best audiobook narrators, like Bridel, understand that nostalgia isn’t just a feeling – it’s a full-body experience.
The novel’s dual timeline structure could feel gimmicky in less capable hands, but Bridel distinguishes past and present Percy with nuanced vocal shifts – her younger self bright with hopeful tremors, her adult version carefully measured. When Percy returns to Barry’s Bay after a decade, Bridel lets us hear the cracks in her composure, the way her voice catches on certain syllables like shoes catching on dock splinters.
Fortune excels in depicting how place shapes love. The Florek family’s restaurant becomes as vital a character as Sam himself, and here Bridel shines – her background voices for the boisterous kitchen staff and nosy regulars create a bustling soundscape. It reminded me of recording oral histories in Buenos Aires cafés, where every clinking cup and passing conversation told its own story.
Some listeners might find the central conflict – a single life-altering mistake – slightly contrived, though Bridel’s raw performance during the pivotal confrontation scene lends it credibility. The resolution leans toward romantic idealism, but isn’t that what we crave from summer love stories? Like finding the perfect swimming spot or that first ripe strawberry of the season, the pleasure is in the temporary sweetness.
Compared to similar titles like Emily Henry’s “Beach Read” (which Fortune thanks in her acknowledgments), this audiobook distinguishes itself through Bridel’s remarkable ability to convey emotional subtext in silence. The pauses between sentences often speak louder than words – a technique I learned matters deeply when recording interviews with Saharan nomads, where what goes unsaid carries generations of meaning.
May your next journey lead you to waters warm enough for second chances,
Marcus
Marcus Rivera
