Carley Fortune on Potential ‘One Golden Summer' Adaptation

Carley Fortune’s no stranger to a hit, with all five of her novels hitting the New York Times’ bestseller list. Now, her debut novel becomes her debut series, with “Every Summer After” heading to Prime Video with the new title, “Every Year After.”

Sadie Soverall leads as Percy Fraser, a misfit, horror-movie-loving girl whose parents buy a lake house in Barry’s Bay next door to the Florek family. Over the course of many summers, Percy’s friendship with the youngest Florek brother, Sam (played by Matt Cornett), deepens, and when she’s brought back to the lake for the first time in a decade, old feelings threaten to burst through.

Newsweek sat down with Carley Fortune to discuss the adaptation, as well as how she felt seeing the world expand beyond the page, and whether Season 1’s ending means a “One Golden Summer” adaptation is on the horizon.

READ:‘Every Year After' Season 1 – Release Date, Schedule, How to Watch

Carley Fortune Discusses ‘Every Summer After' Adaptation and Whether ‘One Golden Summer' Is Next

How are you feeling the day before this comes out into the world?

Carley Fortune: I feel very excited. I can’t wait for people to see it.

It’s been such a long time coming, I remember it being announced, and I’m a huge fan of your book. I also loved your most recent book, "Our Perfect Storm," which I read in about three days. "Every Summer After" has such a special place in the hearts of so many people, and I wanted to know from you what it’s been like seeing your debut novel now become your debut series?

CF: Sitting here right now, talking to you about it, is so incredible. When I wrote the book, I didn’t intend to publish it. I was writing in 2020, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could write a novel. I wanted to do something creative for myself as an adult, which I had never done. All my creativity was going toward my job, and that was in 2020. So, six years later, to have not only published that book, and four others, but to now have a show coming out based on "Every Summer After," I would never have even imagined it. So, it’s really special to me and the kind of incredible journey that I’ve taken over the last number of years is not lost on me.

Seeing your books come out each year is such a highlight for me, and I feel like for so many people, it’s a moment to start the summer. Whenever you read a Carley Fortune book, Summer’s begun.

CF: Yes, I love that about my publication schedule.

"Every Year After" expands so far beyond your book. I always wonder for a writer, if that’s challenging or if it’s super exciting to get to see people expand your world?

CF: Well, I guess it depends for every author whose hands the story is in. I was so lucky to have Amy B. Harris come on board as the Showrunner. She is such an empathetic writer. She was a fan of the novel, and I remember our first conversation, she described to me how she saw the first scene in the show playing out, and I got goosebumps. It was a little bit different from "Every Summer After," but it still felt so true to the book. With Amy I felt like the book was in really good hands. Having spoken with her, I think we come at character and story from a similar point of view. So, it’s really cool for me to see where these characters have gone. Delilah, Jordie, Chantal, these are all characters who have smaller roles in the books and now are an essential part of the show. It was fun to watch that as well because I got to watch it as a fan. I love it.

I re-read the book ahead of watching the show, and I realised as I was going through there are so many quotes in the early days of Sam and Percy’s relationship about friendship. Their relationship is founded on a mutual need for understanding as opposed to any type of romantic connection. That part has been expanded on so much more in the series. I’d love to know about fleshing out those relationships, like between Delilah and Percy, and Chantal and Percy, were you part of that process?

CF: Well, Amy loves exploring female friendships, so, I knew that was going to be important to her in adapting the book. I got to see how that played out as I read the scripts, and I think what she’s done is so brilliant. Friendship is such an important part of the story, and I had read all my childhood and teenage journals just before I started writing and a lot of the biggest heartbreaks were heartbreaks over friends. So, there’s pieces of that in the novel. I love that Amy was able to take those characters, bring them to the lake, and explore female friendship. There could have been an instinct to make Delilah and Percy have more friction between them, and I would have never taken that storyline to that place, and Amy didn’t either. It’s really celebrating what these three women do for each other. I feel so lucky that we just have a similar point of view in that way.

Friendship breakups are so heartbreaking, right? Almost worse than any romantic breakup.

CF: Yeah, and I think that’s why Percy and Sam, when they lose each other, they lose so much more than a boyfriend or girlfriend. They lose their person, their best friend, and the stakes are so much higher in that case for sure.

What so many people love about your writing is not only the beautifully complex characters, but, it’s always such a visual world. I teared up seeing that opening scene going into Barry’s Bay. How was that for you? It looked exactly how I had envisioned it in my head, a testimony to your writing, but I’d love to hear how seeing those characters come to life in that setting felt?

CF: Well, I teared up watching the opening scene of the show, too. I think it is so beautifully shot and it’s this gorgeous landscape, but it feels so evocative and you feel like you’re there, which is what I was trying to do with the book. I was trying to take you to the lake with me. I think with the cinematography, and just the lighting, you really feel that with the show too. That part was incredibly emotional for me. It’s really well done, and Barry’s Bay is a character in the book very much, and it also is in the show.

I have to ask you about the ending. As a reader of your books, when I saw Alice’s photograph, I jumped out of my seat. I don’t know how much you can say, but are we getting a "One Golden Summer" adaptation?

CF: Well, we have to keep our fingers crossed for a second season. Amazon has the rights to "One Golden Summer." We’ve talked a bit about Charlie and Alice’s story. I think you can see from the finale that you get a hint of Alice without meeting Alice, and you can see how we’re setting up to weave those stories together. But, we need people to watch. Of course, there are a lot of other stories to explore, too. We’re not resolved with where Percy and Sam stand, and we have Jordie, Chantal, and Delilah to explore, too. There’s a lot going on for a second season.

‘Every Year After’ Release Date

“Every Year After” will be released on Prime Video on June 10, 2026.

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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 7:30 AM.