#BlogTour – #BookReview of #OneGrandSummer by @EwaldArenz @FwdTranslations @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours #RandomThingsTours

By calturner on July 31, 2024

For my second post of the day I'm delighted to welcome you to my stop on the blog tour for beautiful coming of age novel One Grand Summer by Ewald Arenz with translation by Rachel Ward. Thank you to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this moving book.

About the book:

Sixteen-year-old Frieder's plans for the summer are shattered when he fails two subjects. To be able to move up to the next year in the Autumn, he needs to resit his exams.

So, instead of going on holiday with his family, he now faces the daunting and boring prospect of staying at his grandparents' house, studying with his strict and formal step-grandfather.

On the bright side, he'll spend time with his grandmother Nana, his sister Alma and his best friend Johann. And he meets Beate, the girl in the beautiful green swimsuit…

The next few weeks will bring friendship, fear and first love – one grand summer that will change and shape his entire life

About the author:

Ewald Arenz is a German best selling author of a wide range of novels, short stories, musicals, and plays. He has been awarded various national and international prizes for literature; among them the Bavarian Prize for Literature or the Naples Literary Award. His novels "Tasting Sunlight" and "The Grand Summer" have sold over half a million copies in the German edition and stayed within the first ten on the SPIEGEL bestseller list for more than two years.

In England he publishes with Orenda Books.

He has three children, is a cat-lover and lives in Franconia near Nuremberg.

One Grand Summer is translated by Rachel Ward.

My Review:

One Grand Summer by Ewald Arenz is a beautiful coming of age story that I know will stay with me for a long time to come. It is a gently paced but compelling character driven story that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end.

Sixteen year old Frieder's plans for the summer are shattered when he fails two exams. To be able to move up to the next year when he goes back to school in the autumn he needs to resit them, so instead of going on holiday with the rest of his family, he is faced with the prospect of staying at his grandparents house to study with his formidable and strict step-grandfather.

But he'll also get to spend time with his Nana, his sister Alma and his best friend Johann. And then he meets Beate, the girl in the beautiful green swimsuit… and life will never be the same again.

One Grand Summer is so much more than what it appears to be on the surface. Yes, it is a coming of age story of friendship, fear and first love, but it is also a book that makes you feel things you never would have expected it to when you started it.

Superbly translated by Rachel Ward, One Grand Summer is a moving and beautifully written coming of age novel that is breathtaking in its simplicity. It is a gentle but thought provoking tale that really does stay with you long after the final page has been turned.

I loved Ewald Arenz's previous novel Tasting Sunlight and I can honestly say One Grand Summer is every bit as good. His writing is stunning, with a subtle intensity to it that I adore. I look forward to reading more by this exceptional author in the future.

Highly recommended.

One Grand Summer by Ewald Arenz is available to purchase now: