This month we celebrate Women’s Fiction stories of lazy, hazy summer days spent at the beach, listening to roaring sea waves or boating across the placid or mysterious waters of a lake. Lots of things can happen during the dog days of summer when the heat hits record temperatures. Water is life but can also be deadly. Water carries messages and hides secrets. It can be inviting and refreshing or just plain scary. These five books are perfect reads for these last summer weeks.
RELATED POSTS:
More articles by the Women’s Fiction Writers Association
The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water by Erin Bartels (Revell Books)
When novelist Kendra Brennan moves into her grandfather’s old cabin on Hidden Lake, she has a problem and a plan. The problem? An inflammatory letter from A Very Disappointed Reader. The plan? To confront Tyler, her childhood best friend’s brother — and the man who inspired the antagonist in her first book. If she can prove that she told the truth about what happened during those long-ago summers, perhaps she can put the letter’s claims to rest and meet the swiftly approaching deadline for her next book. But what she discovers as she delves into the murky past is not what she expected.
While facing Tyler isn’t easy, facing the consequences of her failed friendship with his sister, Cami, may be the hardest thing she’s ever had to do. A story that plumbs the depths of the human heart with this emotional exploration of how a friendship dies, how we can face the unforgivable, and how even those who have been hurt can learn to love with abandon.
Sandshell Island by Pamela Raleigh (Moonshine Cove Publishing)
Reeling from accusations of professional incompetence, high school counselor Kathlyn Murray takes refuge in her uncle’s cabin on Sandshell Island. Instead of finding solace, Kathlyn is confronted by islanders who resent her intrusion, as they struggle to keep their treasured lifestyle safe from the surge of mainlanders. Desperate to stay, Kathlyn puts her counseling skills to the test, fighting to overcome cultural prejudice.
When a young girl befriends Kathlyn seeking advice for her future, Kathlyn recognizes the short supply of prosperous jobs on the island for young people. She seizes the opportunity to help and proposes a new initiative for kids to intern at local businesses. Her outspoken idealism sparks controversy amongst the islanders. While most young people are thrilled with her ideas, the entrenched residents ostracize her for butting into island affairs. The tides begin to turn when Kathlyn strikes up a friendship with the local attorney and wins his support. But despite his influence, Kathlyn endures a scathing personal defilement during a town meeting. Before it’s over, she must face her past and open her heart to the people who judge her. Only when Kathlyn confronts her fears and her scars, she finally finds true peace.
Trouble Will Follow by Lauren Faulkenberry (Blue Crow Books)
A standalone novel in the Bayou Sabine series.
Sometimes the deepest wounds come from the ones who love us most. Kate McDonnell’s world is stable and predictable in her lab, where she’s in control. But her life explodes into a chaos she’d never imagined when Andre Dufresne shows up on her porch to whisk her away for a romantic weekend. She’s thrilled to have a second chance with him — but a family crisis forces her to go back to the town she’s avoided for the longest time, hoping her secrets remained buried there.
At eighteen, Kate made a terrible mistake that shattered her completely. She never wanted Andre to know this part of her life, but she also knows that pushing him away again would mean losing him for good. Desperate to mend her broken family and save her relationship with Andre, Kate returns to her hometown and finds her family in pieces. Her mother is ill, her father is in denial and her brothers are clueless. With Andre by her side, Kate takes charge, but not everyone is happy to have her home calling the shots. The longer she stays, the faster her past catches up — and when a bitter family member reveals her darkest secret to everyone, she’s plunged into the nightmare she had tried so hard to avoid and has to learn forgiveness.
Amber Light by Virginia McCullough (VEM Books)
“Luck is not chance, it’s toil; fortune’s expensive smile is earned.” When poet Emily Dickenson wrote those words, she might have envisioned a young woman like 18-year-old Sarah Whitmore. Despite all that’s happened to her, Sarah still believes in lucky breaks. When a single act of violence leaves Sarah pregnant, shattering long cherished dreams, she grabs a chance to leave her Wisconsin town behind and create a new life on the lush South Carolina coast.
Sarah gets help from her quirky Aunt Lillian and Uncle Ray, who push her to find the courage and keep moving forward. She finds a job at an island beach resort and strikes a friendship with Woody, who helps her break out of her shell and develop her talent as a portrait artist. But Woody can’t help Sarah believe a relationship with a man is possible for her. Sarah also meets Barly Rhoads, a dad who fought for the right to see his child and believes in justice and righting wrongs when he sees them. But the past soon catches up with Sarah and she realizes that she has to face decisions and danger, if she wants the possibility of a true second chance.
Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise by Gail Priest (Hayson Publishing)
As far as a young Annie Crow is concerned, the world is full of irrational rules and conventions, especially for women. She is troubled by her grandmother’s suicide and secrets about her mother’s parents. In her teens, Annie faced the potential loss of the Chesapeake Bay property of summer cottages left to her. The family legacy of depression haunts her early adulthood, but the restorative magic of the natural world at the headwaters of the Bay helps to strengthen her sense of self. It is a story of loss, grief, survival and the healing powers of friendship and nature.
