Description
An epic and cinematic novel by debut author Nicola Harrison, Montauk captures the glamour and extravagance of a summer by the sea with the story of a woman torn between the life she chose and the life she desires.
Montauk, Long Island, 1938.
For three months, this humble fishing village will serve as the playground for New York City’s wealthy elite. Beatrice Bordeaux was looking forward to a summer of reigniting the passion between her and her husband, Harry. Instead, tasked with furthering his investment interest in Montauk as a resort destination, she learns she’ll be spending twelve weeks sequestered with the high society wives at The Montauk Manor—a two-hundred room seaside hotel—while Harry pursues other interests in the city.
College educated, but raised a modest country girl in Pennsylvania, Bea has never felt fully comfortable among these privileged women, whose days are devoted not to their children but to leisure activities and charities that seemingly benefit no one but themselves. She longs to be a mother herself, as well as a loving wife, but after five years of marriage she remains childless while Harry is increasingly remote and distracted. Despite lavish parties at the Manor and the Yacht Club, Bea is lost and lonely and befriends the manor’s laundress whose work ethic and family life stir memories of who she once was.
As she drifts further from the society women and their preoccupations and closer toward Montauk’s natural beauty and community spirit, Bea finds herself drawn to a man nothing like her husband –stoic, plain spoken and enigmatic. Inspiring a strength and courage she had almost forgotten, his presence forces her to face a haunting tragedy of her past and question her future.
Desperate to embrace moments of happiness, no matter how fleeting, she soon discovers that such moments may be all she has, when fates conspire to tear her world apart…
There are two sides to Montauk, and the author portrays them in mesmerizing detail. There are the humble hard working families who struggle to make ends meet all year long, and the wealthy summer tourists who come to while away the summer days in The Montauk Manor, a swanky upscale seaside hotel. Most people will see one side or the other, but Beatrice Bordeax will see both. Never quite fitting in with the other wives and their trivial interests Bea finds herself befriending the laundry lady as her lonely days drag on. Her summer at the hotel was meant to rekindle her marriage, but with her husband away on "business" more days than not she begins to accompany Elizabeth the laundry lady into the village and discovers she feels more at home there than with the snobs at the hotel. It is through Elizabeth that she meets a man who seems oddly familiar and begins to imagine a more fulfilling life for herself. I could almost smell the salt air and feel the breeze off the ocean as I was swept into the story.
5 out of 5 stars
I received an advance copy for review.
pre-order a copy
Montauk, Long Island, 1938.
For three months, this humble fishing village will serve as the playground for New York City’s wealthy elite. Beatrice Bordeaux was looking forward to a summer of reigniting the passion between her and her husband, Harry. Instead, tasked with furthering his investment interest in Montauk as a resort destination, she learns she’ll be spending twelve weeks sequestered with the high society wives at The Montauk Manor—a two-hundred room seaside hotel—while Harry pursues other interests in the city.
College educated, but raised a modest country girl in Pennsylvania, Bea has never felt fully comfortable among these privileged women, whose days are devoted not to their children but to leisure activities and charities that seemingly benefit no one but themselves. She longs to be a mother herself, as well as a loving wife, but after five years of marriage she remains childless while Harry is increasingly remote and distracted. Despite lavish parties at the Manor and the Yacht Club, Bea is lost and lonely and befriends the manor’s laundress whose work ethic and family life stir memories of who she once was.
As she drifts further from the society women and their preoccupations and closer toward Montauk’s natural beauty and community spirit, Bea finds herself drawn to a man nothing like her husband –stoic, plain spoken and enigmatic. Inspiring a strength and courage she had almost forgotten, his presence forces her to face a haunting tragedy of her past and question her future.
Desperate to embrace moments of happiness, no matter how fleeting, she soon discovers that such moments may be all she has, when fates conspire to tear her world apart…
There are two sides to Montauk, and the author portrays them in mesmerizing detail. There are the humble hard working families who struggle to make ends meet all year long, and the wealthy summer tourists who come to while away the summer days in The Montauk Manor, a swanky upscale seaside hotel. Most people will see one side or the other, but Beatrice Bordeax will see both. Never quite fitting in with the other wives and their trivial interests Bea finds herself befriending the laundry lady as her lonely days drag on. Her summer at the hotel was meant to rekindle her marriage, but with her husband away on "business" more days than not she begins to accompany Elizabeth the laundry lady into the village and discovers she feels more at home there than with the snobs at the hotel. It is through Elizabeth that she meets a man who seems oddly familiar and begins to imagine a more fulfilling life for herself. I could almost smell the salt air and feel the breeze off the ocean as I was swept into the story.
5 out of 5 stars
I received an advance copy for review.
pre-order a copy
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