Escaping into the Perfect Summer With Carley Fortune
Wherever I find myself recently, be that at work, my apartment in a big city, or a busy store, I have not been feeling the summer vibes. It is July, but nothing about my life feels like a summer vacation. Not that it should. I am an adult who works. But I find myself longing for an idyllic summer vacation. Lucky for me, I have a remedy. See, when I pick up a Carley Fortune book, like magic, I am transported to the summer of my dreams.
Fortune is widely known as the queen of escapism. She says that her goal with writing has always been to draw you into her world. Her settings help you imagine that you stand on the edge of a dock or shore line, staring out at the water with the wind in your hair and a smile glued to your face. The experience of reading one of her books feels like a gift.
Yet, for me there is something more to her words. They give me something to dream about. A life goal even. Her stories are not just escapism. They are aspirational.
Fortune worked for sixteen years as a journalist and editor assigning stories and leading teams. Her career in journalism culminated in overseeing the team for Refinery29 Canada when the brand launched there.
However, in 2020 she started to forge a new path for herself. Fortune talks about how she, her husband, and her son, left their Toronto home during COVID to stay in her hometown of Barry's Bay, a small Canadian town on Lake Kamaniskeg. There her parents owned a restaurant and a house on the lake. And that summer, after getting off of a stressful call from work, she decided to write a book for herself.
Every Summer After, her debut novel, was not written with the thought that this would be published for the masses. It was simply intended for her to have an escape. When I had the chance to meet her, she talked about how she has always been surprised by the way people loved her first hero, Sam Florek. To her, Sam was flawed but she then went on to clarify that she felt like he was her in many ways. She wrote the story because it was a story that lived in her and a story she desperately wanted to tell.
The book tells the story of two kids who grow up together and become best friends and eventually fall in love. Sam lives on the lake year-round with his mom and brother Charlie. Every summer, Persphone (Percy) stays at the cabin next door with her parents. It's a second-chance romance in which the two have to find their way back to each other as adults. The book became a New York Times bestseller because thousands of people fell in love with these two lovely characters and the town of Barry's Bay.
After the success of this book, Fortune quit her job and took up writing full-time. To date she has published four books, Every Summer After, Meet Me At The Lake, This Summer Will Be Different, and One Golden Summer. All of her books so far have become New York Times #1 bestsellers. This year’s release, One Golden Summer, is the highly anticipated sequel to her debut novel. It's the story of Sam’s older brother, Charlie Florek.
What draws me to Fortune’s work time and time again are her characters. They are earnest, sweet and so undeniably kind. It is almost jarring how different it feels to read a story that is so whole-heartedly “good” without being cheesy. There is a part of me that wants to brush it off and say “Oh, it's because they are all Canadian” but that feels reductive. Maybe there's some truth to the Canadian stereotype but I think the tenderness lies within her words.
Fortune’s heroines are relatable. They are all plagued with the same types of insecurities we all have: Am I too loud? Am I good enough? Is my body good enough? Am I simply too much? But her heroines also have a three-dimensional personality; they are funny, sweet, and skilled at the work they do. Many of us can relate to them. They feel like an extension of our own minds. And the heroes she gives them clearly see these women’s value.
Fortune’s heroes are dreamy. They are both strong-minded and brave, a little cocky (in a cute way), and most of all caring. She writes about men who listen and who take time to genuinely get to know their partners. The books feel like a master class in love languages. Here are just some examples of the hero’s actions:
- Reads all her writing and gives feedback
- Spends time with her grandma and drives grandma to choir practice
- Knows her favorite wine and foods and makes sure she’s always stocked up
- Listens to what makes her uncomfortable and cautiously works to make her at ease
- Unblinkly holds a conversation about menstruation
- Wants her to enjoy herself
As simple and basic as these things may sound they are not always the standard.
When it comes to smut, Fortune’s books have deeply intimate scenes because whether the characters have admitted it to themselves or not, it's never about “just sex”. It's always about the connection her characters share and the pleasure they are receiving from that person.
So, yes, one could argue that you should read a Carley Fortune book because the story is wonderful and it will fill you with nostalgia and summer joy. Or you may want to read her books because her characters have fun banter and all the side characters add rich depth to her stories, leaving you unable to wipe a grin off your face. That's all true, but I, Queen Of Smunth, say: read her books to swoon and create a new golden standard for how you want to be treated and get lost in the story. Her stories are the perfect summer read because you will want to slip into a world in which you are loved by a Florek brother.
P.S. Yesterday, as I was editing this, Prime Video announced the cast for the Every Summer After TV series. So if you need more convincing to read the book here it is: read her work before the show airs!
06/18/24
Carley and I at a book signing for Theis Summer Will Be Different.
