The Debut Review: THE GIRLS OF SUMMER by Katie Bishop

With a dual timeline taking place over the course of one life-changing summer and over a decade later, Katie Bishop’s powerful and unsettling debut, THE GIRLS OF SUMMER, will have readers hooked with its intense atmosphere and electric storytelling.

It’s been fifteen years since Rachel was seventeen and spent her summer partying, swimming, and falling in love with Alistair on a remote Greek island. Now, Rachel is married to someone else, living a very different life than she once knew. But the one thing that she took with her from that fateful summer was her love for Alistair, despite their 20-year age difference.

As Rachel starts to dig back into the past, she reconnects with people from that summer who seem to have a different memory of what actually happened, leading Rachel to reconsider everything she believed to be true.

This dual timeline debut is timely and provocative storytelling at its best, exploring power, sex, consent, the nature of memory, and trauma. THE GIRLS OF SUMMER is an atmospheric read that will leave you devouring each page, racing to see what happens next on the glistening and alluring Greek island. Perfect for readers of MY DARK VANESSA and WE WERE NEVER HERE, and watchers of Tell Me Lies and The White Lotus.

We have the pleasure of getting to know debut author Katie Bishop, hearing all about writing THE GIRLS OF SUMMER and where she finds inspiration.

THE GIRLS OF SUMMER is available for download on Edelweiss know more. LibraryReads votes due by May 1st.

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What’s something that made you smile today?

I went to a really fun dance class at my local leisure centre this morning. I’m a really, really terrible dancer, but I think there’s something fun about throwing yourself into something you’re bad at and just letting off some steam. It definitely always puts me in a good mood for the rest of the day. 

Favorite writing snack/drink?

Usually, when I’m writing, I’ll just be ploughing through endless cups of tea and coffee, but there’s also something quite fun about doing a little Friday night writing session with a gin and tonic every now and again.

Book[s] you always reread?

I’m not really a big rereader, because there are always so many books that I want to read for the first time that I rarely feel like I have time to revisit a book again. Something that I’ll do more often is reread scenes that stayed with me from certain books, to try and figure out how writers created a particular feeling. Recently, I’ve been rereading parts of THE GIRLS by Emma Cline and THE PAPER PALACE by Miranda Cowley Heller, which I found hugely atmospheric – something that is really important to me in a book.  

Next on your TBR pile?

My TBR pile is pretty out of control at the minute! I’m planning to read NIGHTCRAWLING by Leila Mottley or STILL LIFE by Sarah Winman next, although one of my friends who has fabulous taste in books recently lent me MY BRILLIANT FRIEND by Elena Ferrante, so I might not be able to resist reading that first. 

What are some other debuts that you’re looking forward to?

There are so many incredible-sounding debuts out in 2023, so it’s hard to choose! I was lucky enough to read ARCs of WEYWARD by Emilia Hart and TALKING AT NIGHT by Claire Daverley, both of which are brilliant, and I can’t wait for everyone to discover them. I’ve also pre-ordered copies of REALLY GOOD, ACTUALLY by Monica Heisey and WE ALL WANT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS by Catherine Newman, so I’m excited to get my hands on them, and I’ve heard great things about MAAME by Jessica George.

You mentioned how you kept quiet about writing THE GIRLS OF SUMMER–what was the best reaction you received when you told your colleagues and friends?

I was actually at a bachelorette party for one of my close friends on the week that I started to get offers from publishers, so I didn’t tell anyone at first, because I didn’t want to overshadow my friend’s big weekend! But I did pull aside two of my very closest friends to tell them, and asked it to keep it a secret, and it was amazing seeing how excited they were for me. 

Telling my parents was also a fantastic feeling, although they were so taken aback that they didn’t quite believe it. They were convinced that the entire thing was some sort of elaborate scam for at least a week!

What has been your favorite part of the publishing process of your debut novel?

Honestly, there’s been so many highlights, it’s hard to pick just one, but getting to work with such amazing, insightful editors has to be up there. It’s a complete privilege to collaborate with people who are so thoughtful and knowledgeable, and genuinely care about THE GIRLS OF SUMMER. Being a writer often involves many years of thankless work, so knowing that my writing is being taken seriously by people who really know what they’re talking about is just the best feeling.  

What about the most surprising part?

I really didn’t know anything at all about the fiction publishing process, so everything has been a huge learning curve, and there’s been lots of surprises along the way. A big one is realising how much work by so many people goes into publishing a book. Even beyond the publishing team, book bloggers and reviewers and early readers play a huge role. You really do feel like you have a team behind you.

Did you enjoy writing about Rachel’s past or present more?

I definitely enjoyed writing the present strand, which features Rachel as an adult, more than the past strand. The chapters that show Rachel’s teenage years are much more dynamic and pacier, and although that was interesting in its own way, I preferred writing the slower present-day chapters, where I had the chance to explore Rachel’s character in a more thoughtful way. I wanted the reader to really feel like they were coming along with Rachel for the journey, as she starts to understand that that magical summer wasn’t quite as she remembers it, and it slowly unravelling that experience was really rewarding. 

Rachel’s friends had fascinating stories and backgrounds of their own–where did you get inspiration for each of them?

I always find it a bit cheesy when people say this kind of thing, but it honestly was just a case of starting to write without a strong idea of who each character was, and then the details of their lives emerging as I got to know them on the page. It felt like I was always learning about every one of them, and as I did, their backstories just fell into place.

But I think that, ultimately, each character having their own rich life came from a place of wanting the story to be more than just about Rachel. Issues of consent and power are universal, and I knew that this wasn’t just Rachel’s story – it’s a story that could really be about any woman, anywhere. It was important to reflect that all of the women in the story had their own story, and a life both before and after it was impacted by the decisions and actions of powerful men.   

Every part of the novel was atmospheric and rich in the detail of the setting. What went into your research of the island to so beautifully write about it? Does the physical space you do your writing in ever impact the setting that you’re writing about?

I think that the island is really a composite of lots of places that I’ve visited, which is why it didn’t feel right to ever name it as somewhere specific in the book. Certainly, Greece and the beautiful landscapes of its islands was an inspiration, but I also drew on lots of other remote, isolated places that I’d visited when backpacking.

But because I wrote the book during the UK COVID-lockdown, the entire thing was written from my sofa, in a time when nobody was travelling, and hardly even going outside. In some ways, I think that this contributed to the dream-like setting of the book, and the intensity of the atmosphere. We were all longing for beautiful, far-flung places and that sense of freedom that Rachel experiences, and I think that that longing imbued itself into the richness of the island setting.

THE GIRLS OF SUMMER by Katie Bishop; 9781250283917; 6/6/23