Summer Heat

LoveReading Says

Evoking all the complications of lust, love, family relationships, and personal and national conflict (namely, the Turkish army’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974), readers who relish novels centred on complex protagonists with self-destructive traits, tangled relationships and complex family bonds will be 100% immersed in Defne Suman’s Summer Heat. It’s shot-through with a sharp edge of honesty as a woman on the cusp of her fortieth birthday comes to find the deepest kind of connection through the deepest dislocation. 

With a loving husband, art historian Melike has just resolved to break her habit of having serial affairs when Petros, a documentary maker, asks her to give him a tour of Istanbul's Byzantine churches. But the chemistry between them is intense — they can’t resist one another — and Melike’s resolve is immediately broken. At the same time, when Melike discovers Petros’ ulterior motive for contacting her and a tangled web of family secrets is exposed, she embarks on a transformative journey to Cyprus in his company.

As the narrative slips between 2003 and 1974, accounts of the past and Melike’s internal reassessment of past events shift back and forth in fluid waves, emulating the turmoil of her discoveries — especially those around her estranged father — and her heart.  

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
More reviews by Joanne Owen

About Summer Heat

'In our family, secrets were buried deep like treasure, never to be spoken of...'

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