Our Place on the Island
A Novel
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4.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
For decades, the Campbell women have reunited at the family’s rambling seaside cottage known as Beech House to celebrate life’s many occasions. But this year, they will be called back to Martha's Vineyard for a celebration of a different sort: their beloved matriarch Cora is getting remarried. And all the town gossips are calling him the one who got away, years ago…
For renowned chef Mickey Campbell, this wedding isn’t just a welcome excuse to return to the place she first learned to cook at her grandmother’s side. It’s also a chance to regroup while she figures out a way to tell her smoldering head chef boyfriend that she’s mismanaged their restaurant into the red.
Mickey’s mother, Hedy, is still mourning the passing of her adored father three years earlier, and she isn’t sure she’s ready to welcome a new man into the fold—and she’s not certain her own thorny relationship with her mother will weather the storm of her upcoming marriage.
But everyone knows a woman’s heart holds more than meets the eye. For Cora, drawing her daughter and granddaughter back to Beech House isn’t just about a ceremony, but a chance to reveal a history she has kept close to her heart for decades. As the days leading up to the wedding unfold, secrets of Cora’s past come to light-- a secret that will cause three generations of Campbell women to question marriage, motherhood, and ultimately learn to savor the delicious joy of following your own heart.
Told in dual timelines on the sumptuous beaches of Martha's Vineyard, Erika Montgomery's OUR PLACE ON THE ISLAND is the sparkling, romantic read of the season.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Three generations of women reunite at their family's beach house in this passionate tale of love and loss from Montgomery (A Summer to Remember). In 1948, working-class newlywed Cora Campbell struggles to fit in to her husband's world of wealth. Her neighbors are judgy and her husband is often away on business. Then she meets Max Dempsey, the contractor hired to renovate her kitchen, and the pair develop a strong bond. In 1999, three years after Cora's husband's death, she and Max announce their engagement. Her daughter, Hedy, and granddaughter, Mickey, head to Cora's home on Martha's Vineyard to celebrate, but secrets threaten to derail the joyful gathering. Hedy is not pleased with someone replacing her father and suspects that her mother may have been having an affair with Max years ago. Mickey, who's always had a close bond with her grandmother, is more supportive of the union, but she's keeping a secret from her own boyfriend that casts a pall on her mood. Toggling between the two timelines, Montgomery tells a stirring, magnetic story about the tension between commitment and desire. The characters are as flawed as they are sweet, and their bond rings true. The result is a nostalgic tale that will warm the coldest hearts.
Customer Reviews
Family drama and love at the beach!!
I chose a cold New England afternoon to begin reading “Our Place on the Island” and I was quickly warmed up by the gentle ocean breezes, the happiness in Cora’s eyes as she prepared for her wedding, and her hope that her daughter and granddaughter would find peace during their stay on the island.
I loved Mickey’s relationship with her grandmother, Cora. Mickey spent many summers on the island, where her love for cooking was born. She helped her grandmother plant her herb garden and prepared delicious meals under her watchful eye. The house itself had many stories to tell, especially about Cora’s kitchen, which was renovated to her specifications many years ago. Hedy, Cora’s daughter, had a love/hate relationship with the family home, the Beech House, because she missed her late father terribly and was afraid to be in the house without him.
Erika Montgomery’s writing is visually enticing, eloquent and lyrically beautiful. The Beech House was a cozy and loving place for everyone that was lucky to have spent time there. Over the years couples fell in love, parties were given and dreams were made. The family drama between Cora, Hedy and Mickey took a backseat to the love they had for each other. They all realized that life was precious and that this time together on the island was a gift they would cherish forever.