The top 10 summers in fiction

Tim Lott's new novel is The Last Summer of the Water Strider. One of his top ten summers in fiction, as shared at the Guardian:

Atonement by Ian McEwan

For my money, McEwan’s greatest book, and something of a departure from what came before (and after). Set in the summer of 1935, but with a distinctly Edwardian feel, the country-house setting evokes all the usual spirits of sex, corruption and innocence, but with such authenticity you feel it is being done for the first time.

Read about another entry on the list.

Atonement also appears on Ellen McCarthy's list of six favorite books about weddings and marriage, David Treuer's six favorite books list, Kirkus Reviews's list of eleven books whose final pages will shock you, Nicole Hill's list of eleven books in which the main character dies, Isla Blair's six best books list, Jessica Soffer's top ten list of book endings, Jane Ciabattari's list of five masterpieces of fiction that also worked as films, and on John Mullan's lists of ten of the best birthday parties in literature, ten of the best misdirected messages in literature, ten of the best scenes on London Underground, ten of the best breakages in literature, ten of the best weddings in literature, and ten of the best identical twins in fiction. It is one of Stephanie Beacham's six best books.

--Marshal Zeringue