In The Summer that Melted Everything prosecutor invites the devil to his town. The whole town is surprised when a 13 year old black boy named Sal turns up. The boy brings with him a scorching heat and unexplainable occurrences. Is he actually the devil?
In Brief
Autopsy Bliss is a prosecutor who believes in impartial justice and lives in Breathed, a town in Ohio. His wife is scared of stepping outdoors and terrified of rain. They live in a house with their two sons in which each room is decorated in the likeness of various countries that she fancies..
When prosecutor Autopsy Bliss puts an advertisement in the newspaper inviting the devil to visit their town, on an impulse, everyone laughs. Until one day a black boy in overalls, without horns or a pitch fork, comes to town proclaiming himself as the devil. He has a bowl and a spoon in hand and asks for ice cream. But the whole town doesn’t seem to have any.
He is invited to stay at the Bliss house and becomes fast friends with the youngest son Fielding. The Bliss family doesn’t believe he is the devil. But the boy seems to know the darkest secrets of the townsfolk. The townspeople find a leader in Elohim who is convinced about the evil in the boy ever since he set his eyes on him. Bizarre events happen around the town and the temperature shoots to an unbelievably high level when the devil decides to stay. What all does this summer melt?
What I Liked
I enjoyed reading the novel. Here are some specific things I liked in it:
1. The Writing
The writing is beautiful. The first few chapters sucked me into the story and I couldn’t wait to find out how the mystery of the devil would unfold. It was interesting to read the devil’s take on pressing questions in the human mind about God, life after death etc. The descriptions and similes are well thought of and add substance to the novel. The style of writing is deeply reminiscent of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson Mc Cullersand To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
2. 1984
1984 by Orwell is one of my favourite dystopian novels. This book talks of the summer of 1984 that haunts the narrator, Fielding, even when he is an adult. I liked the way the book puts 1984 as the year of change or enlightenment, much like the Orwell novel, intentionally or unintentionally. It adds to the rhythm of the story.
3. Themes
The pace of the story undergoes a significant change once the reader gets accustomed to Sal well enough not to view him with judgemental eyes. Then comes a barrage of issues of racism, homophobia, AIDS, loss of innocence, redemption of the human soul and abuse, all of which were prominent topics in the 1980s.
What I disliked
Perhaps the novel was too ambitious in its choice of themes. The beginning chapters make the reader extremely curious about the supernatural. Then slowly, themes of human resentment, creep in. The writing was not crowded; it was wonderfully executed as well. However I still think concentrating on fewer themes would have had more impact. There were places I felt the writer is trying to address all the relevant minority issues in one small novel.
Final Verdict
I found The Summer that Melted Everything to be a book that really holds your attention when you are reading it, but doesn’t gnaw you to pick it up again when you have put it down after a few chapters. However, the reading experience was a good one and the last chapters were brilliantly written as well. I definitely think Tiffany Mc Daniel has a lot of potential as a writer.
Disclaimer : Many thanks to Tiffany Mc Daniel and St. Martins Press (Pan Macmillan) for sending over a review copy. All opinions are my own.
Title : The Summer that Melted Everything
Author : Tiffany Mc Daniel
Publisher : St. Martins Press
Published : 2016
Language : English
Pages : 320
Rating : 4/5
Lovely review. I also felt the “To Kill A Mockingbird” vibe while reading this.
Glad to know you felt the same. And thank you! 🙂
This is one that I’m really excited about. Everyone has been gushing on Goodreads about it, and it’s hard to ignore a book from one of my favorite genres. I’m glad that you enjoyed it!
Thank you. I hope you will enjoy it as well when you pick it up. 🙂
The cover is gorgeous and the premise sounds really intriguing. But I reckon I’d get fed up with all those themes – I don’t really like being hit with too many “messages” when I’m reading. But she certainly sounds like an author to watch for the future – thanks for highlighting the book!
Thank you. Yes, the book is not an easy read because the book touches on a lot of relevant and sensitive themes. I hope she will write more.
I have seen this book everywhere. I passed on the review copy because I was contacted during a month I wasn’t accepting reviews at all, but it seems I missed out. I love the sound of this one and may eventually have to pick it up anyway. Also, the book is gorgeous and would look wonderful in my home library.
I like that the book is around 300 pages, but it seems that it was trying to do too much. Homegoing was similarly small, but it didn’t focus on too many themes, but instead on one flowing narrative and the legacy of slavery, so it felt like it was wrapped up rather nicely by the end.
I agree. The cover is gorgeous. Let me warn you the 300 pages will take you sometime to get through as the size of the book is bigger than a normal paperback. I did like the read. So if you ever pick it up I will look forward to your thoughts.
Homegoing is still on my TBR. Did you read The Underground Railroad by Whitehead? It has been getting amazing reviews as well.
No, not yet. I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to read it, but one day I definitely will!
I hope you will get it soon. It is on my TBR as well
I haven’t read this one yet, but keeping reading good thing about it. Reading your comparison of the writing to that of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has definitely piqued my interest too since that’s one of my all-time favorite books 🙂
I hope you will enjoy the read when you pick it up. I will look forward to your thoughts when you do.
This sounds really interesting! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve added it to my to-read list
I hope you will enjoy the read when you pick it up. 🙂
I enjoyed it as well, but agreed that when you weren’t reading it, you didn’t feel a huge pull to pick it up. I definitely think she has loads of potential as an author and am excited to see what she comes up with next!
I am glad you felt the same. I hope she writes more books. She does have alot of potential. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I also felt that pull towards the supernatural in the beginning and did not expect the dive into social identity issues. I enjoyed the novel, but found I was tired after finishing the book.
I am sure it would have been draining on you. Pretty heavy handed topics were dealt with in the topic. The beginning chapters were so wonderfully executed.
The premise of this so interesting and I wonder about how all the political and social issues would weave in. But that does seem like a lot of issues to pull into one book, but I would still want to check it out. Thanks for the review!
I hope you will enjoy the book when you pick it up 🙂
I’m really looking forward to reading this one. I keep hearing how incredible the writing is.
I hope you will enjoy the read when you pick it up
Hmm…I gotta agree with you that she probably took on too many themes for this novel. Grand’s story really stood out to me and was very impactful but though Sal has a gruesome end, it didn’t hit me as hard as Grand’s.
I agree with you. Grand’s story struck pretty hard.
I have read this novel and since then have been curious about learning more about what your thoughts were on the book. It seems like you enjoyed it almost as much as I did, but that you think it may have been more effective if its focus was a little more narrowed down. An interesting theory I hadn’t considered before!
I liked the read but towards the end I really wished the author focussed on fewer number of themes