Carly Fortune’s bestselling novel ‘Every Summer After’ has finally made its way to television with the series ‘Every Year After’. But along with the very obvious title change, did you know the TV adaptation made several changes to Percy’s story as well?
From career shifts to expanded side characters and even a new ending, here are all the changes ‘Every Year After’ made to Carley Fortune’s novel.
10. Percy Takes A Different Career Path
One of the biggest changes in the show is Percy’s profession. In ‘Every Summer After’, Percy is seen as a successful senior editor at a major interior design magazine. It is described that she loves her work and takes pride in holding that position.
But the TV adaptation somehow decided to take a much darker tone. While she is still connected to writing, this time we see Percy writing obituaries for the newspaper, a job she isn’t very passionate about.
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9. Chantal Becomes A Bigger Character
In the novel, we are only introduced to Chantal as Percy’s best friend from Toronto. Her role is relatively small throughout the book. They became friends when they started to work together as interns and later bonded over the challenges of the profession.
But the show has significantly expanded on Chantal’s presence. She is reimagined as a successful attorney, and the show follows her accompanying Percy to Barry’s Bay. Chantal has a much more active part in the story now, and we get to see a lot of her own personal life as well.
8. The Story Goes Beyond Canada
One of the biggest changes in the adaptation has to be the setting. In ‘Every Summer After’, the story is distinctly shown to be set in Canada. Percy lives in Toronto and regularly travels to Barry’s Bay in Ontario.
The series takes a different approach. Percy and Chantal are Americans, and they live in Seattle. Sam and Charlie remain Canadian from Barry’s Bay. Moreover, the iconic Barry’s Bay itself is also set in British Columbia rather than Ontario.
7. Percy and Sam’s First Kiss
Percy and Sam’s first kiss plays out very differently in the novel and the TV series. In ‘Every Summer After’, the moment happens right after Percy asks to stay at Sam’s house after watching ‘The Blair Witch Project’. The two spend the whole night talking before finally admitting their feelings and sharing their first kiss.
The show builds up some more tension. The sleepover still takes place, but the kiss doesn’t happen until the following episode, during a playful anatomy lesson the next year.
6. The Tavern Gets A Different Owner
One of the biggest surprises of the series had to be the future of The Tavern. In the series, we see Percy unexpectedly named as the next owner during Sue’s will reading. The revelation came as a huge shock to Charlie and Sam, creating another layer of tension.
In the novel, The Tavern never becomes a source of conflict for the family. Longtime employee Julien actually purchases it from Charlie and Sam at a discounted price.
5. Delilah Has A Much Bigger Presence
Delilah is another character whose role was expanded for the sake of the television adaptation. In both versions, she returns to Barry’s Bay during Percy’s visit. But in the novel, she is only presented as a part of Percy’s complicated past.
The series brings even more tension by giving her deeper roots in the community. Delilah and her husband own a summer home in the area and are very familiar faces around the town. She is no longer just a visitor from Percy’s past but an actual part of the present-day story.
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4. Charlie’s Future Story Is Already Set Up
‘Every Summer After’ focuses primarily on Percy and Sam’s romance. But the television series is looking beyond. In the series, we see Charlie discovering an old photograph of himself, Percy, and Sam as teenagers on the lake, which instantly triggers an intense reaction in him.
The photograph is actually taken by Alice Everly, who is introduced in ‘One Golden Summer’ as Charlie’s love interest. It seems like the series is already setting the groundwork for a second season where we will see Charlie’s story being expanded.
3. Sue’s Mental Health Struggles Get Much Deeper
Both in the novel and the series, we are told that Sam’s and Charlie’s father died from a heart attack. But the show takes a deeper approach to explore the family’s grief.
Through Charlie’s memories, we see that Sue struggled a lot after her husband’s death and experienced emotional withdrawal and depression. In the series, we also get to see how this affected Charlie. Especially how he was forced to take on adult responsibilities at a very young age.
2. Sam Learns The Truth From Percy
Throughout both the book and series, we see Percy and Charlie bearing the guilt of their brief intimate moment that changed everything and was the real reason behind Percy leaving Barry’s Bay for good.
The show takes a dramatic turn when Percy herself confesses the truth directly to Sam in the present day. But in the novel, Charlie had already told Sam and Sue just months after it happened. Because of this, Sam already had a lot of time to process the truth.
1. Sam and Percy Don’t Get Their Happy Ending Yet
The most significant change between the novel and the book has to be the ending itself. ‘Every Summer After’ ends with Percy and Sam finding their way back to each other. But the same cannot be said for the TV adaptation yet.
Rather than giving us a complete resolution, the series chose to end the season before the novel’s full conclusion. There is plenty of story left to tell, and it seems like the series is already gearing up to tell Charlie’s story from the sequel ‘One Golden Summer’. A future season is set to build all the tension before giving us a final romantic conclusion.
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