That Summer by Jennifer Weiner: Summary and Study Guide

About This Guide

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⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Quick Facts

| Field | Detail | | --- | --- | | Author | Jennifer Weiner | | Publication Year | 2021 | | Genre | Contemporary women's fiction with domestic suspense elements | | Setting | Cape Cod, Massachusetts (primarily Truro and Provincetown), with significant scenes in Philadelphia | | Narrator | Third-person limited, alternating among Daisy, Diana, Beatrice, and Hal |

Short Summary

That Summer interweaves the lives of two women named Diana. In the present day, Daisy Shoemaker, a Philadelphia wife and mother, begins receiving misdirected emails from a woman named Diana Starling. The two strike up a friendship, and Diana begins to insinuate herself into Daisy's life. Meanwhile, the novel flashes back to the summer of 1987, when a fifteen-year-old girl named Diana Scalzi worked as a mother's helper on Cape Cod and was sexually assaulted by a group of privileged prep-school boys. As the present-day friendship deepens, it becomes clear that Diana Starling is not who she claims to be. She is the survivor of that long-ago assault, and she has created a false identity to confront her rapist—Daisy's husband, Hal—and the others who were complicit in her attack.

Full Summary

The novel opens with two epigraphs: Mary Oliver's poem “Wild Geese,” which speaks of belonging and self-acceptance, and a lyric from Gwen Stefani's “Just a Girl,” which laments the constraints of gender. These set the stage for a story about identity, trauma, and the search for justice.

The Summer of 1987

In the prologue, fifteen-year-old Diana Scalzi, a scholarship student from South Boston, is thrilled to spend the summer as a mother's helper for Dr. Levy, a novelist, on Cape Cod. She cares for four-year-old twins and enjoys the freedom of her first summer away from home. She meets a charismatic recent graduate of the elite Emlen Academy, a boy who goes by the nickname “Poe.” They spend idyllic days together on the beach, and Diana falls into a naive first infatuation. At a final bonfire in late August, Poe hands her a drink. The narrative implies that she is sexually assaulted by him and his friends, an event that will define her life.

The Present Day: Daisy

In March 2019, Daisy Shoemaker is a wife and mother living a comfortable but unfulfilling life in Philadelphia. Her teenage daughter, Beatrice, has just been expelled from the elite Emlen boarding school for spray-painting “RAPIST” on a male classmate's door. Daisy's husband, Hal, is a successful lawyer who is often dismissive and controlling. Daisy begins receiving emails intended for another woman named Diana Starling, a business consultant. Intrigued and lonely, she begins a correspondence and eventually travels to New York to meet her. The two women form a fast friendship, with Diana offering Daisy a sympathetic ear and a sense of being truly seen.

Diana's Deception

As the friendship deepens, the novel reveals Diana's true identity. She is Diana Scalzi Carmody, the survivor of the 1987 assault. After years of struggling with depression and trauma, she found a measure of peace in a small cottage on Cape Cod, where she built a new life, married a kind man named Michael, and eventually became the owner of a restaurant called The Abbey. When the #MeToo movement resurfaces her memories, she recognizes her rapist in a photograph: he is now Hal Shoemaker, Daisy's husband. She also learns that Daisy's brother, Danny Rosen, was present at the assault and did nothing to stop it.

Diana's plan is to infiltrate Hal's life. She creates the false identity of “Diana Starling,” rents a model apartment in Philadelphia, and engineers the email mix-up to meet Daisy. She intends to confront the men who hurt her, but her plan becomes complicated by her genuine affection for Daisy and her daughter, Beatrice.

The Confrontation

Diana's deception is eventually revealed. She confesses her true identity to Daisy, who is devastated to learn that her husband is a rapist and that her own brother was complicit. Daisy confronts her mother, who admits she knew something about the assault but chose to ignore it. Daisy then takes Beatrice and leaves Hal, driving to Diana's Cape Cod cottage to hear the full story.

In a chapter told from Hal's perspective, the novel confirms his guilt. In 1987, he pressured his friend Danny to participate in the assault, and when Danny couldn't go through with it, Hal raped Diana while another boy held her down. He has spent his life denying the event, dismissing Danny's later accusations, and hiding his past.

When Hal arrives at the cottage, Daisy confronts him. She demands a divorce and tells him to stay away from their daughter. She considers letting him fall from the deck but decides that death would be too easy a punishment. She walks away, leaving him behind.

The Coda

The novel ends with a coda set the following August. Beatrice is paddleboarding in Cape Cod Bay. Her parents are separated; her father visits every other weekend, renting a cottage in North Truro and bringing gifts for her mother. Daisy now works as a cook at Diana's restaurant, and Diana has become a close friend and mentor to Beatrice. Beatrice has embraced her new life as a “washashore,” attending public school and finding community. She is uncertain about her parents' future but is hopeful about her own.

Main Characters

• Daisy Shoemaker: A wife and mother who discovers her husband's hidden past as a rapist and her brother's complicity, leading her to leave her marriage and seek a new life. - Diana Scalzi Carmody: A sexual assault survivor who, decades later, creates a false identity to befriend her rapist's wife and confront the men who hurt her. - Beatrice Shoemaker: Daisy's rebellious teenage daughter who challenges social norms, questions consent, and becomes a catalyst for her mother's awakening. - Hal Shoemaker: Daisy's husband and Diana's rapist, who has hidden his past for decades and faces the consequences when his actions are exposed. - Michael Carmody: Diana's patient and supportive husband who helps her heal from trauma and encourages her to confront her past. - Danny Rosen: Daisy's brother who witnessed the assault on Diana and remained silent, leading to guilt and a strained relationship with his sister.

Themes

• Healing from sexual trauma as a nonlinear, lifelong process: The novel portrays recovery as a gradual, often solitary journey that requires safe spaces, supportive relationships, and the reclamation of one's own narrative. - The moral complexity of revenge and the search for accountability: The narrative interrogates whether personal vengeance can ever deliver justice, suggesting that true accountability may require confronting not only the perpetrator but also the systems and silences that protected him. - Bystander complicity and the culture of silence: The book examines how those who witness or learn about abuse—through inaction, denial, or self-interest—become complicit, and it argues that breaking silence is essential for both healing and accountability. - Female friendship as a source of strength and transformation: The story shows how an unexpected friendship between two women, rooted in shared vulnerability and honesty, can provide the support needed to confront painful truths and rebuild lives. - Class privilege, social mobility, and the performance of identity: The narrative critiques how wealth and social standing shield abusers from consequences while also exploring how characters use reinvention and disguise to navigate or challenge those power structures.

Symbols

• The Cape Cod cottage: The cottage, first lent by Dr. Levy and later bought by Diana, serves as a recurring symbol of sanctuary, healing, and the possibility of starting over. - Shell crafts: Diana's decoupaged shell dishes and painted shells, which she creates and sells, symbolize her creative healing and growing independence. - The white dress: The white dress, referenced as a motif, represents innocence and the loss of it during Diana's assault. - The beach and sea: The beaches and waters of Cape Cod recur as a setting that embodies both freedom and the site of trauma, reflecting Diana's journey.

Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

| Chapter | Summary | | --- | --- | | Epigraph | The novel opens with epigraphs from Mary Oliver's “Wild Geese” and Gwen Stefani's “Just a Girl,” establishing themes of belonging, self-acceptance, and gender constraints. | | Prologue | In 1987, fifteen-year-old Diana Scalzi begins her summer as a mother's helper on Cape Cod, where she meets a charismatic boy named Poe and attends a bonfire that ends in her assault. | | Chapter 1: Daisy | In 2019, Daisy Shoemaker deals with her daughter Beatrice's expulsion from Emlen and begins receiving misdirected emails from a woman named Diana Starling. | | Chapter 2: Beatrice | Beatrice starts at a new school and reflects on the murder of an influencer on Cape Cod, questioning whether anywhere is truly safe for women. | | Chapter 3: Daisy | Daisy travels to New York to meet Diana Starling, reflecting on her past, her father's death, and her friendship with the late Hannah. | | Chapter 4: Daisy | Daisy and Diana meet for drinks, and Daisy shares the story of her life, her marriage, and her unfulfilled dreams. | | Chapter 5: Diana | Diana, despite her intentions, finds herself liking Daisy. She returns to Cape Cod, feeling guilty about the deception. | | Chapter 6: Diana | The narrative flashes back to Diana's life after the assault: her withdrawal, depression, and eventual acceptance of Dr. Levy's offer to use her cottage. | | Chapter 7: Diana | Diana arrives at the cottage in North Truro and gets a job as a waitress at the Abbey in Provincetown, beginning her new life. | | Chapter 8: Diana | Diana settles into a routine, adopts a dog named Willa, and meets Michael Carmody, the property's caretaker. | | Chapter 9: Diana | Diana rebuffs Michael's advances but begins to find community and creative expression through shell crafts. | | Chapter 10: Diana | Michael helps Diana with a broken furnace, and they share their first kiss. He encourages her to sell her shell crafts. | | Chapter 11: Daisy | Daisy visits her brother Danny and his husband Jesse, who reveals that Danny has been working excessively, seemingly trying to atone for something. | | Chapter 12: Daisy | Daisy argues with Beatrice about dead mice and feels unappreciated by Hal. She receives an email from Diana, who wants cooking lessons. | | Chapter 13: Beatrice | Beatrice is invited to sit with the popular kids at lunch and tells them about her expulsion, which is met with hostility. | | Chapter 14: Daisy | Daisy gives Diana her first cooking lesson, and they discuss their families and lives. | | Chapter 15: Diana | After Daisy leaves, Diana meticulously erases all evidence of her presence from the model apartment. | | Chapter 16: Diana | Diana returns to the Cape and tells Michael the full story of her assault. He comforts her and agrees to take things slowly. | | Chapter 17: Diana | Michael and Diana's relationship deepens over the year. She initiates intimacy for the first time, and he proposes. | | Chapter 18: Diana | Diana and Michael marry and buy the cottage. Years pass, and during the #MeToo era, Diana recognizes her rapist in a photo: Hal Shoemaker. | | Chapter 19: Daisy | Hal volunteers to host a school party without consulting Daisy. He has a drink and apologizes, but Daisy lies awake, unsettled. | | Chapter 20: Beatrice | Beatrice skips school with Cade Langley, and they visit the Mütter Museum. She firmly corrects him about consent. | | Chapter 21: Diana | Diana and Daisy establish a routine of cooking and walking. Diana confides that she was raped, and they rush to pick up Beatrice from school. | | Chapter 22: Diana | Diana realizes her plan has spun out of control. She has befriended Daisy and Beatrice, and she feels conflicted about her mission. | | Chapter 23: Diana | Diana investigates the 1987 assault, identifying Hal, Brad Burlingham, and Danny Rosen. She confronts Brad, who admits his role. He dies by suicide days later. | | Chapter 24: Daisy | Daisy and Hal argue. Beatrice points out that Hal's nickname for Daisy, “little bird,” comes from A Doll's House, prompting Daisy to question her marriage. | | Chapter 25: Beatrice | Beatrice looks forward to a dinner party where Diana will be a guest, sensing that the evening will be different. | | Chapter 26: Diana | At the dinner party, Diana confronts Hal and Danny, asking if they remember her. Hal tells her to leave, and Danny whispers an apology. | | Chapter 27: Beatrice | Cade confesses that his initial invitation was a dare. He kisses her but won't commit, and Beatrice waits for him in vain. | | Chapter 28: Daisy | Daisy discovers that “Diana Starling” doesn't exist. Diana reveals her true identity and the story of her assault, implicating Hal and Danny. | | Chapter 29: Daisy | The narrative flashes back to how Daisy met Hal, including his request to call her by a different name. | | Chapter 30: Daisy | Daisy confronts her brother Danny, who admits he saw Hal having sex with a girl. She packs up herself and Beatrice and leaves Hal. | | Chapter 31: Diana | Diana struggles with guilt over Brad's death. She decides to approach her confrontation differently, laying.