The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach

by Pam Jenoff

Book Overview

For fans of All the Light We Cannot See and The Tattooist of Auschwitz

From the sandy shores of America to the battered streets of London, one woman's search for love and redemption will defy all odds

Young Adelia Monteforte begins the summer of 1941 aboard a crowded ship bound for America, utterly alone yet free of Fascist Italy. Whisked away to the seaside by her well-meaning aunt and uncle, she basks in the noisy...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0778317544
• ISBN13: 9780778317548
• Release Date: July 2015
• Publisher: Mira Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Love story/world war ll background

A beautifully written heartful story about a young girl of 16, who in the middle of the night is dragged down to the docks by her mother, who has found the money to get her daughter on board a ship bound to America, and away from Fascist Italy, and the Nazi's, as Adelia and her parents are Italian Jews. Her mother gives her the briefest goodbye explaining her Aunt and her uncle ( her fathers brother) will be there to pick her up, and they will raise her till they can be together again. In her heart Adelia is trying to believe her mother, but knows and feels, she'll never see her parents again. So she acts grown, for her mothers sake, but she's scared out of her mind, by herself, going to a new country, with an Aunt and Uncle she barely knows. She is met at the docks by her well meaning Aunt and Uncle, who try to make her feel as comfortable as possible, make her feel like family, they take her shopping for new clothes and shoes, include her in as much of their life as they can..but it's still not your mother and father, and as much as Adelia tries to act thankful and appreciative, there is still an awkwardness of not really fitting in. During the course of the summer, her Aunt and Uncle, rent an apartment in Atlantic City ever year, to spend their summer days at the shore. This is when Adelia meets the family across the street, the Connally's who are Irish Catholics, with four grown boys. They immediately hit it off, they invite her to lunch, as they unpack the car and ready the house for their summer stay. Adelia falls for Charlie Connally, the oldest, a year older than her, ready to start his senior year when school resumes. As the long hot summer days lay ahead, they do everything together, Adelia, Charlie and his three brothers. Adelia now feels such a part of this big fun loving family, Charlie's Mom is always saying" your like the daughter I never had".Charlie tells Adelia how much he cares for her, and by the very end of summer, they talk about their futures together. But all their plans come to a crashing halt, as the war breaks out, Charlie wants to enlist, and a very tragic accident happens in Charlie's family.. that devastates and breaks the entire family, including Adelia. As time goes on their lives are changed, for what Adelia thinks is forever. Never hearing from or seeing the Connelly's again. But Is It ?! It is an absolutely heartbreaking and Beautiful story all wrapped into one. Over time, life comes full circle again, and through hope, love, and friendship, things are dicovered, and made whole again. Shocking Ending, of love and closure, and new Beginnings.!! Crazy Good Story, Fantasic Author, a REAL MUST READ !!! SO Deserving of 5 stars ! A "can't get it out of your mind" kind of story!!!