title: This Never Happened: A Novel
author: Elly Summers
description: Their sister Claire has just killed her abusive husband, and Max Hayes is explaining to his older brother Richard why he has to be the one to tell Claire's lawyer all about their parents--the rigid Jack and the passive Bev. "I could barely swallow," narrator Richard thinks. "I hated this kind of pressure. I'd had enough pressure when I was a kid to last me a lifetime. In high school we'd had to formulate a life's goal for careers class, and mine had been to never feel crushed in a no-win situation again. The way to do that was to take control of my life. Why couldn't Max understand that you can't control your past? Why rake it up? What was the point? Why not remember the good?" What makes this first thriller by E. W. Summers, a Maryland English teacher, so extraordinary is the way she instantly lets us see how badly damaged Richard has been by his childhood and how well he has survived in spite of that damage. Now, to save his sister's life, Richard has to strip away all his carefully constructed layers of protection and view his father for what he really is: an absolutely believable and totally frightening monster.
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  Summerhouse Reunion
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  By
  
  
  
  
  
  Kathi Daley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
  either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
  resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is
  entirely coincidental.
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2020 by Katherine Daley
  
  
  
  
  
  Version 1.0
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part
  in any form.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  Table of Contents
  
  
  [The Summerhouse](part0000_split_004.html#_Toc48222625)
  
  
  [Chapter 1](part0000_split_005.html#_Toc48222626)
  
  
  [Chapter 2](part0000_split_006.html#_Toc48222627)
  
  
  [Chapter 3](part0000_split_007.html#_Toc48222628)
  
  
  [Chapter 4](part0000_split_008.html#_Toc48222629)
  
  
  [Chapter 5](part0000_split_009.html#_Toc48222630)
  
  
  [Chapter 6](part0000_split_010.html#_Toc48222631)
  
  
  [Chapter 7](part0000_split_011.html#_Toc48222632)
  
  
  [Chapter 8](part0000_split