THE MARTHA'S VINEYARD BEACH AND BOOK CLUB, by Martha Hall Kelly, opens in 2016 where we meet grieving Mari Starwood who travels from her home in California to Martha's Vineyard. Why? Among her dead mother's possessions, she found a piece of paper with a famous artist's name. That of Elizabeth Deveraux who resides on Martha's Vineyard. She planned to sign up for a painting class but ended up telling her the truth. She wants to know why her mother had her name. In response, Mrs. Deveraux tells her the story of the Smith sisters who had once lived on the property Mrs. Deveraux is now the caretaker of. As the story progresses, a shocking secret and truth is revealed. The narrative switches to 1942 where we meet the Smith sisters, their brother Tom and his girlfriend Bess and their grandmother who are all trying to eke out a living on their farm. As if life isn't difficult enough, Tom enters the service, sixteen-year-old Briar finds a stranger washed up on the beach and nineteen-year-old Cadence, an aspiring writer, unexpectedly falls in love. What to do? Cadence and Bess start a book club which leads to surprising events.
Based on true events, this story is a tribute to the power of family and the strength and resilience that comes from it. Added to the mix, the family and the community come to grips with American troops near their homes, U-boats in their waters and a German spy in their midst. The well-drawn and highly individualistic characters are a formidable group and most are to be admired.
As Mrs. Deveraux's story approaches its end, Mari is eager and impatient to have her questions answered. And they are and come with a life-changing surprise.
This book is a mesmerizing, memorable and powerful story. Highly recommended.
Two sisters living on Martha\'s Vineyard during World War II find hope in the power of storytelling when they start a wartime book club for women—a spectacular novel inspired by true events from the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls.
2016: Thirty-four-year-old Mari Starwood is still grieving as she travels to the storied island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. She’s come all the way from California with nothing but a name on a piece of paper: Elizabeth Deveraux, the famous but reclusive Vineyard painter. When Mari makes it to Mrs. Devereaux’s stunning waterfront farm under the guise of taking a painting class with her, Mrs. Deveraux begins to tell her the story of the Smith sisters, who once lived there. As the tale unfolds, Mari is shocked to learn that her relationship to this island runs deeper than she ever thought possible.
1942: The Smith girls—nineteen-year-old, wannabe writer Cadence and sixteen-year-old, war-obsessed Briar—are faced with the impossible task of holding their failing family farm together during World War II as the U.S. Army arrives on Martha’s Vineyard. When Briar spots German U-boats lurking off the island’s shores, and Cadence falls into an unlikely romance with a sworn enemy, their quiet lives are officially upended. In an attempt at normalcy, Cadence and her best friend Bess start a book club, which grows in both number and influence as they connect with a fabulous New York publisher who could make all of Cadence’s dreams come true. But all that is put at risk by a mysterious man who washes ashore—and whispers of a spy in their midst. Who in their tight-knit island community can they trust? Could this little book club change the course of the war… before it’s too late?
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