by Nicola Harrison
Publishing June 4 2019 by St Martin's Press
This book is extremely well written, especially for a debut. The author takes us to a new vacation hotspot in 1938, Montauk, Long Island, where New York's wealthiest plan to invest and spend their summers from then on. Beatrice and her husband Harry hope to rekindle some of the spark in their marriage after failing to get pregnant. Instead a giant chasm is created when Beatrice discovers some things about Harry, and then about herself. She no longer feels she fits into such a life, being from a simpler background and finding the other wives to be mostly shallow and self-centered.
The seaside town of Montauk, originally a small fishing village with a lighthouse and mysterious lighthouse keeper, is described with visuals that had me picturing every scene. I was rooting for Beatrice to come into herself, even though there was more romance here than I usually get into. I loved Dolly, one of the more likeable wives, and Elizabeth from the village, both of them straight shooters in contrast to Beatrice. The ending had me reeling -- I will say it was unexpected and even over the top. Could have turned out much differently.
I read an egalley thanks to St Martin's Press via NetGalley.
