That Summer

Weiner follows up Big Summer with another emotionally charged drama, this one centered on a #MeToo reckoning. Diana Shoemaker has been known as Daisy ever since marrying her husband, Hal. But when she begins receiving emails intended for another “Diana S.” with a similar address—and when the two Dianas strike up a correspondence—she starts to wonder what her life might have been like had she not fallen into Main Line Philadelphia motherhood and a modest culinary education business. A parallel narrative follows the other Diana, whom it turns out is intent on contacting Daisy to confront her about her sexual assault when she was 15 by a group of boys on Cape Cod, including some with connections to Daisy, whose family spent summers there along with Hal’s. After Daisy and Diana become friends, Daisy learns their seemingly accidental online encounter was anything but. Weiner’s writing is infused with evocative depictions of place, particularly year-round scenes on the Cape. Some villains are painted with overly broad strokes, and while the plot hinges on more than one coincidence, the account of a woman on a deferred quest, nearly three decades after an assault, feels emotionally honest. Weiner’s legions of fans will applaud this emotionally affecting and often surprising story. Agent: Joanna Pulcini, Joanna Pulcini Literary Management. (May)