Speaking of Summer

By Kalisha Buckhanon

Counterpoint     2019

292 pages     Literary

I try to finish most of the books that I begin, but I had trouble getting through Speaking of Summer. Several of the reviewers mentioned that it improved about half-way through, but frankly, it’s been quite a week around here, and I was not able to get to that point. I loved the title and loved the cover, but I just couldn't get through the book. Please don't let that deter you, because I believe that Buckhanon's look at Black women's worth is well worth pursuing.

Here is a plot summary:

“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. With her friends and neighbors, Autumn pretends to hold up through the crisis. But the loss becomes too great, the mystery too inexplicable, and Autumn starts to unravel, all the while becoming obsessed with the various murders of local women and the men who kill them.”

At first glance, Autumn does not appear to be an unreliable narrator, but we are privileged to frequent glimpses of her mental unraveling as she deals with what she perceives to be a lack of interest in a missing black woman. This, of course, is a common perception. If Summer had been a white woman, there would have been a much more rapid response to her disappearance. Her theme is always present; “women of color don’t matter in America unless we are rich and famous.”

Kalisha Buckhanon has a marvelous way with words. Sometimes I got so caught up in the language that I forgot to pay attention to what was happening in the plot, and that may be one of the major problems with the novel—it is wordy, and we become totally enmeshed in Autumn’s thoughts and her musings. There are quite a few flashbacks and current happenings that color the plot, but everything is vague and rather ungainly. One thing I did appreciate was the portrayal of Detective Montgomery, who treats Autumn with respect, and he understands Autumn’s trauma as she searches for answers about Summer.

I realize that Speaking of Summer has garnered a great deal of press and appeared on several lists, including Time Magazine’s Best Books of Summer 2019 list. However, I have to agree with the Kirkus analysis, which closes with: “Unfortunately, a somewhat clumsy chase for mystery overshadows the accurate portrayal of one woman’s struggles with mental health.”

Kalisha Buckhanon’s website.