Speaking of Summer

By: Kalisha Buckhanon

Narrated by: Karen Chilton

On a cold December evening, Autumn Spencer's twin sister Summer walks to the roof of their shared Harlem brownstone and is never seen again - the door to the roof is locked, and no footprints are found. Faced with authorities indifferent to another missing woman, Autumn must pursue answers on her own, all while grieving her mother's recent death. 

With her friends and neighbors, Autumn pretends to hold up through the crisis. She falls into an affair with Summer's boyfriend to cope with the disappearance of a woman they both loved. But the loss becomes too great, the mystery too inexplicable, and Autumn starts to unravel, all the while becoming obsessed with murdered women and the men who kill them. 

In Speaking of Summer, critically acclaimed author Kalisha Buckhanon has created a postmodern, fast-paced story of urban peril and victim invisibility, and the fight to discover truth at any cost.

©2019 Kalisha Buckhanon (P)2019 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Speaking of Summer gives us a powerful song about what it means to survive as a woman in America.” (Jesmyn Ward, National Book Award winner and author of Sing, Unburied, Sing)

compelling

She took took me by surprise. I was immediately drawn in by the well spun storyline. Well written.
Childhood abuse is so hard.

Speaking of Summer

Excellent read!! I must say truthfully that at the beginning, I really struggled! For a good moment, I almost put the story out and felt it was too depressing. But I persevered, and am really glad I did!! Such a deep, and touching story as the plot unfolds. Two issues we often find taboo, in the black community, to really discuss are sexual abuse and mental health!! I don't want to give away anything more, but a must read for all health care workers and both women and men of color!! Narration is excellent!!

Too long

I feel bad not enjoying this book and audiobook. I can see the effort the author put into creating the story. However, there were details that seemed superfluous, and I feel as though the editor should’ve cut out around 5 chapters. This is an interesting take on mental health, grief, and recovery, but the points get lost in what appears to be an attempt at literary greatness, instead of just telling good story.

Speaking of Summer Reflection

a twist of a read, but thoughtful. the story lingered with me after the listen.

I didn't see that coming

several times during the first 4 hours, I asked myself, what is this about. I almost called it quits because it was honestly so uninteresting. The second half made up for it, but I wonder how many people didn't hang in for the WHAT THE HECK moment. I don't feel like Chase was fully flushed out after. Surely he had some awareness of something and some thoughts.