Farewell Summer: A Novel

The master of American fiction returns to the territory of his beloved classic, Dandelion Wine—a sequel 50 years in the making

Some summers refuse to end . . .

October 1st, the end of summer. The air is still warm, but fall is in the air. Thirteen-year-old Douglas Spaulding, his younger brother Tom, and their friends do their best to take advantage of these last warm days, rampaging through the ravine, tormenting the girls . . . and declaring war on the old men who run Green Town, IL. For the boys know that Colonel Quartermain and his cohorts want nothing more than to force them to put away their wild ways, to settle down, to grow up. If only, the boys believe, they could stop the clock atop the courthouse building. Then, surely, they could hold onto the last days of summer . . . and their youth.

But the old men were young once, too. And Quartermain, crusty old guardian of the school board and town curfew, is bent on teaching the boys a lesson. What he doesn’t know is that before the last leaf turns, the boys will give him a gift: they will teach him the importance of not being afraid of letting go.

In the deceiving warmth of earliest October, civil war has come to Green Town, Illinois, an age-old conflict pitting the young against the elderly for control of the clock that ticks their lives ever forward. The graying forces of school board despot Mr. Calvin C. Quartermain have declared total war on thirteen-year-old Douglas Spaulding and his downy-cheeked cohorts. The boys, in turn, plan and execute daring campaigns, matching old Quartermain's experience and cunning with their youthful enthusiasm and devil-may-care determination to hold on forever to childhood's summer. Yet time must ultimately be the victor, as life waits in ambush to assail young Spaulding with its powerful mysteries—the irresistible ascent of manhood, the sweet surrender of a first kiss . . .

“[B]eautiful imagery and well-crafted prose.” - Chicago Sun-Times

“Creepier than [Dandelion Wine] but retains the elegiac tone and lovely descriptions of 1920s boyhood.” - Library Journal

“Bradbury remains a master of inspired storytelling . . . The long-awaited, rewarding conclusion to an American classic.” - Rocky Mountain News

“Poignant, wise...Bradbury’s mature but fresh return to his beloved early writing conveys a depth of feeling.” - Publishers Weekly

“[A] master craftsman yet to be superseded . . . Bradbury had the ability to cruise seamlessly between fantasy and sci-fi, horror and ghost tale. Few who have read him will forget such classics as The Martian Chronicles . . . , The Illustrated Man or Something Wicked This Way Comes.” - Baltimore Sun

“An intriguing coda to one of Bradbury’s classics. ” - Kirkus Reviews

“A touching meditation on memories, aging, and the endless cycle of birth and death.” - Booklist