Brooke Lea Foster Knihy

In June 1957, a young socialite's glamorous summer in Southampton takes an unexpected turn. Everleigh “Lee” Farrows believes she has her life perfectly planned with a handsome fiancé, Roland, a trust fund, and a future filled with children in Bronxville. However, her summer changes when Roland surprises her with a beachside hotel on Gin Lane, a gift that stirs painful memories of her childhood at the Plaza, overshadowed by her mother’s mental illness. Despite her initial joy, Lee is haunted by her past. Determined to embrace her summer, she indulges in poolside Bellinis, tennis matches, and social luncheons with her Manhattan friends, all while capturing moments with her camera. Yet, tragedy strikes during the hotel’s opening weekend, revealing cracks in her seemingly perfect life. Lee is forced to confront her true desires and question whether the life she has always envisioned will ever satisfy her. Set against the backdrop of the evolving American landscape of the late 1950s, from elegant inns to rural farmlands, Lee's journey becomes one of self-discovery as she seeks to understand who she truly is amidst the chaos of her summer.

"In 1962, coed Heddy Winsome leaves her hardscrabble neighborhood behind and ferries to Martha's Vineyard to nanny for one of the wealthiest families on the island. But as she grows enambored with the seemingly perfect young couple and chases after their two children, Heddy discovers that her academic scholarship at Wellesley has been revoked, putting her entire future at risk. Determined to find her palce in the couple's social circles, Heddy nurtures a romance with the hip surfer down the beach while wondering if the better man for her might be a quiet college boy instead. But no one she meets on the summer island--socialite, starlet, or housekeeper--is as picture perfect as they seem, and she quickly learns that the right last name and a house in a tony zip code may guarantee privilige, but that rarely equals happiness."--Page 4 of cover