June 18, 2026 at 11:56am EDT

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Every Year After.

Every Summer After fans have some surprises in store for them when they tune into Prime Video’s adaptation of Carley Fortune’s book.

The author told SheKnows that when she read the script for Every Year After, she “gasped” at one particular change made to her original storyline. “I think if you are a diehard fan of the book, there are quite a few surprises in store for you,” Fortune said.

“The one that was the biggest surprise for me when I read the scripts was Percy getting the keys to the tavern in Sue’s will,” Fortune said, describing the moment Percy dramatically inherits the Tavern from Sam’s mother after her death.

“I gasped when I read that in the script,” Fortune confessed to us. “But when I thought about it, it made a lot of sense in giving some more tension to the story between Percy and Sam and Charlie, and also giving Percy some reason to stay in Barry’s Bay aside from the love story [with Sam].”

The moment adds to the tension between Percy and Sam, who storms out with Charlie after Sue’s will is read.

Fortune embraced the change to her original story, but when it came to something from her book that she definitely wanted translated directly onto screens, there was one obvious choice.

“I think the part of the book that I was most excited to see on the screen was the ‘you came home’ scene,” Fortune said. “I think it’s such an important emotional part of the story. I think it’s one that needs to land in the right way for fans of the book.”

The scene is also sentimental for Fortune. “I remember at one of my first book events for Every Summer After, reading that scene to an audience, and there was just audible gasping at the end of the scene,” she recalled. “And it was the first time I realized how the book was striking a chord with people in a very emotional way.”

Season one of Every Year After is streaming on Prime Video now.