Last Summer

Yorktide, a Maine town within easy reach of its shoreline and of Portland, looks like an ideal place to bring up children. Jane Patterson and her closest friend, Frannie Giroux, live side by side there, and their daughters, Rosie and Meg, have grown up as near-constant companions. That bond begins to fray when the two girls start ninth grade. Rosie, a reserved and lovely girl, becomes the target of an older group of students who mock and belittle her, and the cruelty steadily intensifies. Meg, afraid that she could become the next victim, turns against her friend, and Rosie eventually collapses under the strain.

Jane, furious with both Meg and Frannie, sets out to support Rosie's recovery while wrestling with her own resentment and sense of blame. As the months pass, the women and girls in this circle must each work through forgiveness and compassion, and try to judge whether a relationship can be mended or has truly ended.