The Last Perfect Summer

by

Karla Stover

As the country gears up for war, changes come quickly to small-town America.

The Last Perfect Summer by Karla Stover is a close-up view of an earlier time as war comes to a fast-changing America. Louise Tanquist, the adopted daughter of a successful Tacoma modiste, is building her own life and following her dreams of opening a photography studio by working for and learning all she can from the owner of a local business. But as the war that will become known as World War I gains momentum, life speeds up, new technologies and innovations are everywhere, and Louise is swept up in the changes and what they bring to her life and hometown. 

Louise is an engaging, truly likable heroine, with solid hopes and plans to achieve them. A thoroughly modern young woman, she is involved in her community and the efforts to assist in the ongoing European war when President Wilson announces the United States is joining the fray. Life, as she knows it, is about to change forever. 

The plot moves steadily forward as tragedy visits. The author’s attention to detail, physical and emotional, and the historical reconstruction of the time and place is an absolute marvel as the story is dotted with real people and actual places – an absorbing and satisfying creation of historical fiction. 

I recommend THE LAST PERFECT SUMMER to readers of historical fiction, especially those with an interest in pre-World War I America and the early Pacific Northwest. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.