Robin’s Rave Reviews 2026

General Fiction – Women’s Fiction – Summer Read – ’60s nostalgia – Rock ‘n’ Roll

LOST IN THE SUMMER OF ’69 by Eliza Knight: a grandmother with early Alzheimer’s lives out her dream of being a musician by joining a band in the rock festival circuit while her worried daughter and granddaughter go on a road trip to find her. 

If you like books with ’60s nostalgia and rock ‘n’ roll, LOST IN THE SUMMER OF ’69 by Eliza Knight is for you! It comes out in paperback on June 9, just in time for summer reading. Embark on a road trip across the country to music festivals in the golden era of rock.

Book Summary

Doctors have given Eleanor a diagnosis of early Alzheimer’s. Regretting she never pursued her dream to be a professional musician, she leaves her Atlanta home to go to a California music festival. After performing in an open mic tent, Shep Moon invites her to play on the big stage with his band. Next thing she knows, she’s traveling the country, playing with Shep’s band on the festival circuit.

Straight-laced Leanne always wears pearls and a dress and always has her husband’s dinner on the table when he gets home from work. Lately she’s been longing for more in her marriage and life than the restraints put on 1950s and ’60s housewives. She’s shocked and worried when her mother left home without leaving a note. She asks her daughter, Nora, to ride with her to track down Eleanor. Leanne hopes time together will strengthen their relationship before Nora goes off to college.

Nora wants to hang out with her friends before she faces her freshman year at Yale as one of the first women students. She planned on spending her summer at the lake with friends, but her mom and grandmother need her help. Being trapped in a car all day, day-after-day, with her mom sounds like torture, but she agrees to go.

Eleanor is having the time of her life. She is worried that if her daughter finds her, she’ll spoil all her fun and make her come home. Her daughter and granddaughter are hot on her trail, but every time they arrive at a festival, Eleanor has already moved on to the next one. They continue to track her without any modern technology. No cell phones. No computers. No GPS. Meanwhile, Leanne and Nora are being more adventurous than they’ve ever been. Their fun and troubles bring them closer together as they enjoy a new found freedom on the trip.

And yes! The do get to Woodstock. Is IS the summer of ’69, after all.

My Thoughts

LOST IN THE SUMMER OF ’69 by Eliza Knight is an enjoyable, light-hearted story about Grandma Eleanor being lost (although she knows where she is—most of the time), and her daughter and granddaughter tracking her down.

I love that Eleanor gets a chance to experience the spotlight as an entertainer, a dream she’d given up in her youth to marry and have a family. She gets to prove to herself that she could have done it and that she still has value at her age. She gets to live that life, even if only for a summer. She’s the most interesting character for me. However, Leanne is at the most interesting crossroads, historically.

Leanne has played the dutiful wife with all the restrictions on women in the 1950s-’60s, but she dips a toe in the evolution of women’s rights. She’s the transitional woman, glimpsing future possibilities. Drowning in her marriage and life while dreading becoming an empty-nester, she gets a taste of adventure and freedom while on the road with her daughter. She recognizes she wants more for both of them. She goes from always wearing a dress and her pearls to wearing tie dye shirts and bell bottom jeans. What would the ladies back home think?!

Nora represents the generation that will change societal expectations of women, including being one of the first women to attend Yale. On the verge of adulthood, Nora moves from seeing her mother through a child’s eyes to seeing her from a more adult perspective. She also experiences young love with Joe, a reporter she keeps running into at the festivals.

All three women, three generations, learn about being themselves and about breaking out of the mold the world imposes on them. (Can’t help but think of Jell-o molds from the ’60s!) These women learn they have agency. They discover the joy in getting ‘lost’ on purpose—and, through the process, being found and seen.

Eliza Knight has done her research. She did a fabulous job creating the world of 1969 through many historical touches. She hit right on with sensory details of the hotel rooms, diners, and pay phones, as well as the festivals, from the patchouli to the mud to the tear gas. The only criticism I have is some of the festivals could have been cut out. It began to feel repetitive, even though different experiences happen at each. Perhaps a few could have been combined together.

I really enjoyed taking a road trip with these three ladies. Watching Eleanor get her moment to shine and the transformation of Leanne and Nora, both individually and as mother/daughter, was entertaining. LOST IN THE SUMMER OF ’69 should go on your summer reading list. Thank you SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. The opinions are my own.

LOST IN THE SUMMER OF ’69 by Eliza Knight comes out in paperback on June 9, 2026. It’s almost here! Pre-ordering is VERY helpful to authors. I suggest ordering through Bookshop.org since they help support small, independent bookstores across the country. Since it’s a paperback, it’s very affordable. Order here.

About the Author

Eliza Knight, an award-winning and USA Today bestselling author, currently lives in Florida with her knight in shining armor, three princesses, two naughty Newfies, and a turtle names Fish.

Her love of history began as a young girl, traipsing the halls of Versailles and running through the fields in Southern France. Standing before the great golden palace, she imagined what life must have been like. Today she takes readers on historical journeys around the world.

She is the creator of the popular historical blog, History Undressed, and hosts the History, Books and Wine podcast.

If You Like…

If you like the description of LOST IN THE SUMMER OF ’69 by Eliza Knight, check out my past reviews on these recommendations: Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, A Happier Life by Kristy Woodson Harvey, and Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul.

 

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