The Invincible Summer by Alice Adams

Invincible Summer:  a debut novel by Alice Adams, and if I am judging a book by its cover, title and first chapter, perhaps also a delightful beach read.  After a few chapters, I thought, am I, just barely middle-aged, too old to read this narrative of the lives of 4 twenty-somethings as they graduate from college and figure out what to do with their lives?  I mean, my 20s were not as free-spirited as theirs, and I have figured out this chapter of my life.  But I read on…because even though I couldn’t quite relate, I couldn’t quite stop thinking about Sylvie, Eva, Lucien and Benedict as they scatter from their university in Bristol, England, searching for careers, love, purpose and meaning in their lives.  The more I read about Eva’s career as a derivatives trader, Sylvie’s wild and frequent romances, Lucien as club promoter and sometimes drug dealer, and Benedict as scientist and college professor, the more I liked, and the more I thought.  (Note to self: a book that starts with quotes by Albert Camus isn’t usually “a sand between the toes” read.)

Adams takes us from summer to summer for 20 years, and continues the 4 narratives from four different perspectives rather seamlessly.  Sometimes novels that go from character to character have me flipping ahead and then back–but Invincible Summer was smooth.

There is a particularly thought-provoking passage toward the end of the novel:

He ran his fingers through his hair. ‘So I’ve nothing to complain about.  It’s just that…God, you know how now  we’re old enough to speak openly?  It’s just this is so bittersweet.  Seeing you, I mean.  Have you ever had a moment when you look back over your life and see clearly all the moments when you could have done something differently and then your life might have taken the other direction?’  …

Maybe we didn’t miss our moment at all.  Maybe this is it, this is the only moment we ever could have had.

And that, I understand.