It was really important to Carley Fortune that the Prime Video adaptation of her debut novel Every Summer After was set in Canada.
Fortune grew up where the book takes place: Barry’s Bay, a lake town in Ontario, where “there were only three permanent residences on the road” and her childhood looked a lot like her characters Sam (Matt Cornett) and Charlie Florek (Michael Bradway).
Fortune’s novel, and the plot of the series, follows Percy Fraser (Sadie Soverall), whose family buys a summer cottage in Barry’s Bay. Percy immediately connects with the Florek brothers, but especially Sam, the younger of the two. Over the course of six summers, Percy and Sam are inseparable — until Percy makes what she considers the biggest mistake of her life.
Ten years later, Percy has to return to Barry’s Bay to confront both her past and her feelings as she reunited with Sam for the first time since that fateful day when everything changed.
“The thing I felt most strongly about was the setting and making sure the book was set in Canada,” Fortune, who is an executive producer on the series adaptation Every Year After, told DECIDER. “The first version of the script that I read, which which was about two years ago, was before our showrunner, Amy B. Harris, was on board. It was set in a town called Barry’s Bend in Wisconsin.”
She felt like she was “listened to” when Prime Video came aboard, even if she had initially felt like her book would make a better film than a TV series. Aside from the Canadian setting, Fortune felt strongly that Sue Florek, Sam and Charlie’s mom, should be played by a Canadian (and she is, by Calgary-born actress Elisha Cuthbert).
Per Fortune, Prime Video respects the built-in fanbase that comes with adapting books to the screen, and the proof is in a handful of successful adaptations the streamer has dropped in the past few years: include Off Campus, The Summer I Turned Pretty, and Red, White & Royal Blue, to name just a few.
Fortune stopped by DECIDER’s studio ahead of Every Year After‘s debut to discuss working on the series, Prime Video’s hand in adapting romance novels, the trend of Canadian romance taking over our screens and so much more.
DECIDER: Before we get into the TV series, I want to go back to the beginning. I’m wondering where you got the idea for writing Every Summer After. Is any of it inspired by your own summers living in Canada?
CARLEY FORTUNE: Yes. I grew up on the lake in Barry’s Bay, and our house was kind of on a dirt road in the bush. There were only three permanent residences on the road. The other houses were cottages, and every summer — it would be very quiet in the winter, and then every summer it was full of action and kids. I grew up working at my family’s restaurant. It was very much like Sam and Charlie’s story in the book. I had always wanted to write a novel in the pandemic. I was very frustrated with my job in journalism and had a frustrating call. I slammed down the phone and I said, “I’m going to write a book.” I wanted to write about growing up at the lake. So that’s where every summer after came from.
Moving a little bit over to the TV show, you’re an executive producer on it. How involved were you with the process of casting, particularly with the core trio? When you’re writing, do you have a specific image of what these characters look like?
You know, it’s funny. I can never picture the characters. I can picture the setting so well. I sometimes I draw layouts of rooms or of properties. I can tell you exactly where the fridge is in the kitchen. I cannot picture the characters. I try to describe them so that you can picture them, but I don’t have an actor in mind, and so when we were casting, it was really fun for me to see them come to life. I wasn’t envisioning anybody specifically, and then I saw the tapes of all the top picks for each role.
Sadie [Soverall] was cast first as Percy, and then Matt [Cornett]; his tape for Sam made me cry. He did this, like, eulogy speech and I was tearing up, and then the chemistry read between Matt and Sadie was so incredible. They were in different cities. It was on Zoom, but you could just feel feel their connection on the screen. And then Michael — Michael Bradway — who plays Charlie, he was amazing, too, and also had a chemistry read with Matt because as brothers, their relationship is so core to the book and the two of them together. You really you really felt that brotherly connection from the get go.
When you think of the characters now, do you think of Sadie, Matt, and Michael?
I try not to. I try to keep my own world separate from the show, if that makes sense. I think when I see them play those characters, they really bring them to life for me, but I feel like as a writer, I need to preserve my own relationship with the book and the characters, so I try not to picture them. It would be strange to me because I also know them as people.
Is there anything in the book that you found yourself really protective over once the scripts were being written and the show was going into production, and was there anything that you felt needed to be adapted exactly as its written on the page?
The thing I felt most strongly about was the setting and making sure the book was set in Canada. The first version of the script that I read, which which was about two years ago, was before our showrunner, Amy B. Harris, was on board. It was set in a town called Barry’s Bend in Wisconsin. So it was very, very important for me that this was was a Canadian set show.
There was nothing from the book that I felt needed to be word for word, except there’s a scene in the book we call the, “You came home,” scene. When I read that scene to an audience at one of my first book events, everybody in the crowd gasped, and it was the first time I understood how emotionally invested people were in the story, and that scene in particular is really important to fans. So it was those three words, having those three words in the show and have that delivery really land. I was excited to see it. I was nervous about how it was going to come together. But I think it I think it turned out beautifully.
Having read the book and watched the show, I loved that scene. I think it is so perfect.
I’m so glad.
Then of course, some changes had to be made to the story too, including a few that happened right in the first episode. What is your favorite new addition and which one are you most excited for fans of the book to see?
I love all the secondary characters. They were all part of Every Summer After, but it’s Jordy (Joseph Chiu), who is Sam’s childhood friend. We’ve got Delilah (Abigail Cowen), who is Percy’s childhood friend, and Chantel (Aurora Perrineau), who is her best friend as an adult. They’re all in the book, but in very kind of smaller ways, and in the show, they serve as really important characters, and I love their stories. I think Amy has done such a beautiful job expanding the world she’s given audiences.
I think if you’re a fan of the book, you get what you want, but then you have this ensemble and this group that she writes with such empathy. Like, you are really along for the ride with the characters and they help. The book is so interior. You’re in Percy’s head the whole time, but having Chantel come with her to the lake, having Delilah there as a bit of an antagonist at the beginning, you really see Percy’s struggles and her point of view for screen. It makes a lot of sense, and I think one of the biggest surprises and delights for me was was seeing Joe play Jordy. He was so spectacular and funny, and I think he blew everyone away. I think Amy was writing scenes for him because he has this amazing depth, but humor, too. And he was such a such a surprising addition to the cast.
This show is on Prime Video, and Prime Video seems to be investing really heavily in romance adaptations right now, from this show and Off Campus to some older things like Red, White & Royal Blue and The Summer I Turned Pretty. What has it been like to work with them both as an author and as an executive producer?
When I was first talking to people about adapting Every Summer After, I really saw it as a film. This was in the summer of 2020 when the book came out, and Prime Video came to me with an idea. They were the only partners who saw it as a show and had a very clear idea of how it could span two seasons at the time. Of course, things have evolved since then, and I love that they had this vision because I think it’s turned out really beautifully as a show.
They’ve also, you know, when there are things that I felt really, really strongly about with character and setting — I also really wanted Sue to be played by Canadian actor — and those conversations, I felt like I was listened to. I think the other thing that’s been really great about working with them is they understand how important the readers are, how important the fans are. Of course, you want to draw a much larger audience, but, you know, that core audience is going to be who we are thinking about first and foremost, and I think there’s a lot of respect there. I think you can sometimes meet with producing partners who actually don’t really care about the reader. They understand that there’s an audience there, but they they’re hoping that they can draw them in, but they don’t really respect them, and I think there’s a lot of respect for the readers of the books.
Kind of jumping off of that, I’ve noticed already that fans have been making edits on TikTok to all different songs with the characters just from the trailer clips and music is such a huge part of the show too. Are there any songs that you wish someone would make an edit of your characters to?
Maybe a Taylor Swift, maybe an “invisible string.” I feel like that’s very Sam and Percy-coded. There is a scene in the show — I’m a major Harry styles fan, like major Harry Styles fan — and we have a Harry Styles song in, “Fine Line,” and the scene is so beautiful. Amy wrote the scene with that song in mind, and I know that people will be making edits with that song and I’m very excited to see them.
Going back to adaptations like Off Campus between that show, yours and Heated Rivalry, three of the biggest romance adaptations right now are from Canadian authors. Have you noticed that this is a trend, and do you think there’s a reason why Canadian romance is having such a moment right now?
I don’t know what the reason is. I’ve definitely noticed it. Of course, like Rachel Reid, Elle Kennedy, I’m so excited about it. You know, I guess we’re looking there at two series of books about hockey. Hockey is deeply, deeply Canadian. My books are very much about these places in Canada and and these Canadian summers. I don’t know the reason for it, but I love it.
Have you talked to either of them about this?
I sent Rachel a note early on just to make sure she was okay, because I feel like it’s just such a wild ride. I’ve talked to Elle as well, and just kind of compared notes a little bit. Cheering her on, too.
You have two other books in the process of being adapted right now. Meet Me at the Lake, with Meghan and Harry’s production company, and This Summer Will Be Different with Netflix. Can you give us an update on those and when we might see them?
Totally, yeah. Meet Me at the Lake is in development with Netflix as a film. We have a director attached. I cannot say who that is, and the script is currently being revised.
The Summer Will Be Different is a bit further along. It’s been greenlit with with Netflix for a ten episode season. We are shooting at the summer in Toronto and on Prince Edward Island, where it’s set. I’m so excited about this and we’re casting it now.
Is it different to be shooting where the book is set versus the way they change the location [from Ontario to British Columbia] in Every Year After?
Yeah, it means a lot to me. You know, the team at Netflix that I’m working with is a Netflix Canada team. I met with them even before they optioned the book and I knew that if it was with them, they would they would want to make it exactly as it was envisioned. There’s really no substitute for Prince Edward Island, and it’s kind of a bucket list item of mine to shoot there. I’m so, so excited.
Every Year After hasn’t been renewed for Season 2 yet, but if it is, can we expect to see the story from One Golden Summer play out on screen?
Yeah, so Amazon has the rights to One Golden Summer. I know Amy has talked about this, and I know it’s kind of my understanding that that story will be wrapped into a second season if we get one. If you watch Every Year After to the end of the first season, it really sets us up for One Golden Summer for sure.
DECIDER is a website dedicated to all things streaming, so I’m wondering if Percy’s love of horror movies is something that you share, and if you do, what are some of your favorites?
It is something I shared when I was young. I loved R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike. I also loved V.C. Andrews, which I kind of consider horror stories. I went through this phase when I was young of watching horror movies with my best friend. I was a Halloween movie devotee, but now I can’t. I can’t watch horror, scary stuff, like, I just have no ability to watch it anymore.
This interview was edited for length and clarity. Every Year After is now streaming on Prime Video.
