Audrey has enough on her hands, having just been abandoned by her loser husband who absconded with all the funding for their shared restaurant, now bankrupt. The last thing she needs right now is to babysit her alcoholic, starlet mother, Meridith, while she continues to dry out. But of course that is exactly what she is being expected to do. And of course, it can’t be at home in California – no, it has to be on the east coast, at Meredith’s estate on the island where she grew up. Where memories come back thick with emotions for both women. Meanwhile, we are also privy to entries in the journal of a survivor of a shipwreck that happened decades prior, on the same shoreline surrounding Meredith’s estate. We learn about Providence Dare, her anxieties about being pursued by the law, and her bold transformation. How are the two connected? You’ll just have to read the book to find out!
Reading Beatriz Williams is like belonging to an insider’s club: you just never know whom you will remeet, what will be referenced, and what little joke you might find. And while each novel is a stand-alone great, it is best to read all of her novels, because 1, they are wonderful and 2, you’ll be in the club! This novel is a perfect example. There are several characters who reappear from other works, many references to her prior novels done with her characteristic tongue-in-cheek snark. And while these references are not essential to the plot and one would enjoy the story even without knowing them, they definitely add that much more of a giggle when you stumble upon them. You get to appreciate her brilliant sense of humor that much more.
And brilliant she is. She weaves a story of three women, with three different pasts, that converge into a timeline that intersects in the most surprising way. And it feels natural, particularly since it has been build from characters that already feel like family.
While this may not necessarily rise to the level of a MUST READ, I do very highly recommend it. It is fun, suspenseful, cleverly composed, and a joy to read, as all of her works are. She is a brilliant author who just seems to keep getting better and better!
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