Lucy is the protagonist and first-person narrator of This Summer Will Be Different. In chapters that alternate between several timelines, she recounts her life between the ages of 24 and 30. Lucy is a driven and creative woman with a passion for floral design. By 25, she owns In Bloom, a thriving floral arrangement business. Despite Lucy’s successful career, her personal life is challenging. Lucy prioritizes work over her well-being due to her desire to prove herself to her overbearing and critical parents. Her relationship with her parents has been strained since childhood, as they continually push her toward conventionality and undercut her decisions. Lucy felt out of place in her family home, preferring to spend time with her free-spirited aunt Stacy. Lucy’s desire to prove herself leads her to accept an ambitious corporate contract for In Bloom, even though she dislikes corporate orders and secretly dreams of starting a cut-flower farm.

In the narrative present, Lucy is still grieving the recent loss of her aunt Stacy and struggling to accept other changes that come along with getting older. She is grounded by her relationship with her best friend, Bridget, who is more like a sister to her.