Lowcountry Summer eBoxed Set

by Mary Alice Monroe

  As always, I send my sincere thanks and love to Marguerite Martino, Angela May, Kathie Bennett, Buzzy Porter, Ruth Cryns, and Lisa Minnick for all their invaluable support.

  Heartfelt thanks to the fabulous team at Gallery Books: Lauren McKenna, Louise Burke, Jennifer Bergstrom, Elana Cohen, Jean Anne Rose, Ellen Chan, Natalie Ebel, Liz Psaltis, and everyone there who has continually supported my books. Love and thanks to my agents at Trident Media Group: Robert Gottlieb and Kimberly Whalen, Sylvie Rosokoff, Adrienne Lombardo, and Tara Carberry. Many thanks also to Joseph Veltre at Gersh.

  I especially want to acknowledge the children’s picture book Shackles, written by Marjory Wentworth (Legacy Publications). Her beautiful story of the discovery of slave manacles in her backyard on Sullivan’s Island inspired me.

  Finally, my love and thanks to my husband, Markus, for all the cups of coffee, glasses of wine, handfuls of almonds, and words of encouragement during all hours of the day and night.

  GALLERY READERS GROUP GUIDE

  The Summer Wind

  Mary Alice Monroe

  Introduction

  The second book in Mary Alice Monroe’s Lowcountry Summer trilogy, The Summer Wind continues the story of three half-sisters and their grandmother experiencing the highs and lows of a poignant summer on Sullivan’s Island.

  For Dora, the winds of change force her to cope with the aftermath of a messy divorce. Dora must let go of her facade of the perfect wife and mother and discover a renewed purpose before she can move on with her future. For Carson, the summer brings a road trip with her nephew that will change and heal them both. For Harper, a summer of self-reflection leads her to reveal the weight of the expectations placed on her as the heir to her family’s fortune.

  As a rough island storm brews and a health crisis threatens a beloved member of the family, the summer girls’ bond strengthens—just as Mamaw had planned.

  Discussion Questions

  1. Mamaw sometimes reflects on her sneaky methods—“blackmail,” Harper calls it—for keeping the girls together at Sea Breeze for the summer. Do you think she was right to use manipulation to get the girls to stay? In other words, do you think that a mother’s or grandmother’s good intentions can justify her actions?

  2. How do the girls’ relationships with one another change over the course of the novel? Take time to consider each of their one-on-one relationships, as well as the dynamic of the three of them together.

  3. As Dora stands in her and Cal’s old house, she compares it both to herself— “She felt rather like this old house. . . . Beneath her ever-present smile, she was crumbling” —and to her and Cal’s marriage— “Everywhere she looked, Dora saw . . . that no amount of effort on her part could save it.” In what ways does Dora feel trapped in the house, and how is she able to free herself of it? On a separate but similar note, if the old house represents Dora’s marriage and unhappiness, what does Sea Breeze represent?

  4. Which moment do you think was the bigger turning point for Dora—her “broken heart syndrome” stress cardiomyopathy attack, or her realization in the store dressing room after Harper’s outburst? What other major turning points does Dora encounter, and how do they affect her life and her relationships?

  5. Dora’s role as Nate’s mother is not easy, but her sisters suspect she puts more pressure and strain on herself than she needs to. What does Dora discover about her relationship with Nate through allowing him to travel to Florida with Carson?

  6. Though he is continually withdrawn due to his Asperger’s, Nate’s transformation from the sad, outburst-prone boy at the start of the novel to the more accepting, slightly more outgoing boy at the end is clear. What factors and events most contributed to this transformation? Do you think the change is temporary or permanent, and why?

  7. What do you consider to be the main priorities of each summer girl—Carson, Dora, Harper? How, if at all, do you think their priorities change over the course of the novel?

  8. Monroe’s theme of humans and animals sharing a connection is evident in The Summer Wind. Consider Carson and Nate’s connection with Delphine, Cara’s connection with the sea-turtle hatchlings, and Taylor’s connections with Jax and Thor. How do these bonds affect their lives and the lives of those they love? Discuss ways in which you can develop your connection with animals and with nature.

  9. Harper talks of the expectations placed on her as the heir to the Jameses’ fortune. How do you think those expectations have shaped the woman she has become?

  10. What are the major differences between Dora’s relationship with Cal and her relationship with Devlin Cassell? What positives and negatives do you see for her in each relationship, and which would you encourage her to pursue? Why?

  11. Consider the role that guilt plays in the novel. Which characters suffer from it, and why? Are all of the characters able to overcome their guilt? Or are there any characters left with guilty feelings at the end of this book?

  12. The unearthing of the slave manacles is a poignant moment for the girls—and especially for Lucille. What do you think the manacles represent to her? What emotions do you imagine are stirred in her when she sees and holds them?

  13. “We should never underestimate how important our loved ones are to us. Or how powerful one’s grief can be.” Mamaw’s words foreshadow the loss that is to come in the novel’s final pages. Lucille’s passing signifies the end of a long era at Sea Breeze; truly she had become a member of the family. Discuss Mamaw and Lucille’s long friendship, and the impact each woman had on the other’s life.

  14. At the end of the novel, Carson is faced with a life-changing decision. Do you think she will decide to have her baby? Do you think she’ll repair her relationship with Blake? What are your predictions for her in the final novel of the Lowcountry Summer trilogy?

  15. The theme of healing is dominant in this book, as Dora heals from “broken heart syndrome” and the dolphin Delphine heals from her injuries. Discuss the parallels of their healing: What do both Delphine and Dora have to let go of from their past? What must they find? What are the possibilities for their future? Are other characters undergoing healing in this book?

  Reading Group Enhancers

  1. On the very first page of the novel, we learn that “being out on Sullivan’s Island, sitting in the shade of a live oak tree, sipping iced tea, and waiting for the occasional offshore breeze” is Mamaw’s “very definition of summer.” What’s yours? Ask each member of your reading group to write down how they define summer on an index card, then take turns sharing the definitions out loud.

  2. Carson’s best friends when she was a child were her books— “A Wrinkle in Time, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and anything by Judy Blume.” Have the members of your group bring their favorite childhood books along to share, and discuss the role reading played in your lives when you were younger.

  3. The three summer girls were named after their father’s favorite Southern authors—Harper after Harper Lee, Carson after Carson McCullers, and Dora after Eudora Welty. Split your reading group into three teams, and give each of the teams one of these authors to research, asking them to consider what each author may have in common with her namesake.

  4. In gardening, Dora and Harper find an activity that brings them closer together. Bring a bit of nature into your reading group: Purchase packets of seeds, small pots, and a bag of soil ahead of your reading group date, then let each member of your group plant their own mini-garden to take home with them.

  5. If playing cards is more your speed, skip the gardening and go straight for discussing the novel over a game of gin rummy—in Mamaw’s honor and Lucille’s memory. Don’t know the rules, or need a quick refresher course? Check out http://www.bicyclecards.com/card-games/rule/gin-rummy.

  6. Taylor, the former Marine Carson meets while in Florida, is a participant in the Wounded Warrior Project—a program for which the real-life Joan Mehew won the Carry Forward Award in 2013. To learn more about the vision and purpos
e of the Wounded Warrior Project, visit http://sandbox.woundedwarriorproject.org.

  7. To discover more about Mary Alice Monroe and her books, read her blog, view a list of her upcoming author appearances, and more, visit http://www.maryalicemonroe.com.

  Keep reading for a preview of

  The Summer's End

  by

  Mary Alice Monroe

  Chapter One

  Mamaw~

  The dawn of another summer day. Mamaw tightened the soft cashmere throw around her thin shoulders. Slivers of light pierced the velvety blackness over the Cove and pewter colored shadows danced on the spiky marsh grass like ethereal ghosts.

  Mamaw sat huddled on an oversized black wicker chair on her back porch, her legs tucked beneath her. The fog was moist on her face and the predawn chill seemed to go straight to her bones. She could seem to get warm with Lucille gone. She’d awoken from a fitful sleep and came outdoors hoping the fresh air would settle her nerves. She’s found scant warmth or peace. In the distance the Atlantic Ocean, her mercurial friend, roared like a hungry beast. The waves were devouring the dunes in a relentless rhythm. Echoes reverberated over Sullivan’s Island.

  One wave after another, she thought, like the flow of days that ceaselessly followed one after the other.

  Over a week had passed since Lucille’s death. Yet she still felt her old friend’s presence around her, hovering in death as she did in life. Dear Lucille. Death came to us all. She knew that. Mamaw was no stranger to death. At eighty years of age, she could hardly have been spared the loss of loved ones. She’d buried her parents, her husband, and, too early, her son. Yet tonight she felt the past more alive than the present. Memories of her loved ones past played vividly in her mind.

  Mamaw took a long, raggedy breath. From faraway, she heard the mournful bellowing of a ship’s foghorn. In contrast, a bird in the nearby tree began calling out his strident dawn whistles . . . a cardinal, she thought. Mamaw listened, stirred from her lethargy by the dawn song. She watched as the morning light, in degrees, brightened the skyline, revealing the Ravenel Bridge in the distance. It appeared as two great sailing vessels in the distance. Slowly, as the sun illuminated the darkness, her despair dissipated like the mist. Mamaw felt the tension in her chest relax and she took a deep breath. The worst of the night was over.

  Foolish old woman, she chided herself as the gray sky slowly shifted to blue. Sitting in the dark, mourning your friend. Wouldn’t Lucille give you what-for if she spied you moping like this outdoors in the damp chill, still in your night clothes? Who had time to lollygag? Their plan for the summer was not finished! She’d invited Dora, Carson and Harper to Sea Breeze in May—and they’d come. The first time they’d been together in over a decade. True, it had been a tumultuous summer of change and growth, ups and downs, joys and heartaches. But it was her triumph that they’d weathered the vicissitudes together. Her granddaughters had rediscovered the love they’d shared as children when they played together during the summers here on Sullivan’s Island. She should be crowing like a rooster.

  Yet, there was still much to be done and she was running out of time. It was already August. The sea turtles were finishing another season, the children were heading back to school, the ospreys would soon head south with the other migrating birds and butterflies. Summer’s end was fast approaching. Soon, too, her Summer Girls would be leaving.

  Mamaw felt a twinge of loss at just the thought. She would miss them—their sweet faces, their chatter, tears, laughter. The footfall in the house, the drama, the hugs and kisses liberally offered. What a summer it had been! When her granddaughters left in the fall she would, she realized, be utterly alone.

  Mamaw lowered her cheek to her palm. But where would they go? Each of them was unsure of what her next step would be when they left the safe embrace of Sea Breeze. They were adrift. Dora’s divorce was pending, Carson was pregnant and Harper was completely at a loss.

  “All right, Lucille,” she said aloud to the presence she felt hovering in the pearly light. Renewed determination shot through her veins, stirring her to sit upright. “Enough of my belly aching and self pity. At my age, I’m lucky to be here to greet the new dawn! Life is to be savored, not squandered. Time is precious, and I still have some left,” she said, tapping her fingers. “Not much,” she added ruefully. “But I pray at least until summer’s end.”

  “Ah Lucille, you were the one who always rallied me in my dark moments. But now I must depend on myself. We brought them here. And now I have much yet to do to finish our plan.”

  Mamaw’s eyes rose to the sky where great shafts of pink and blue were breaking the horizon. A smile eased across her face. The moon may be gone, she thought. But the sun was rising on another day.

  * * *

  Harper~

  In another room of Sea Breeze, Harper lay on her bed in the steely light, her hands tucked beneath her head, listening to the mighty roar of the ocean. How loud the sound of the waves was this morning, she thought. The echoes reverberated in the still night. She thrilled to the sound, so different from what she was accustomed to in New York City.

  In New York Harper awoke to the blare of police sirens, honking horns, and banging garbage trucks. So much was different here. She was different here. Over the past few months since she’d arrived on Sullivan’s Island her body had slowly acclimated from the fast pace and sense of urgency she had in the city to the slower, quieter rhythm of the lowcountry. She no longer went out to parties or bars till late at night, nor did she charge out of bed in the morning at the sound of an alarm. At Sea Breeze her days were ruled by the sun. Early to bed, early to rise.

  Harper smiled, wondering if she ever foresaw how much she’d enjoy this lifestyle. No, she didn’t think she had. She stretched languidly while the light brightened to give the room a pearly glow. She turned to her side to look out the window when her hand brushed against sheets of paper. Surprised, she sat up to investigate. Sheets of paper lay strewn across her bed and scattered on the floor.

  She rubbed her eyes as understanding dawned. Her book . . .

  She must’ve fallen asleep while reading her manuscript. she realized, yawning. She rose from her bed and gathered the two hundred some sheets into a pile, taking her time to put the pages in order. As she did, her eyes re-read a sentence here and there. Not bad, she thought to herself. The emotions in the words felt true. Then again, she second guessed herself, she was a biased judge. Her mother had made it brutally clear when she was a girl that she didn’t have talent. Like her father. Her mother was a renowned editor so Harper had taken her words as fact. Yet, those fateful words still stung, even after a decade. Since then, Harper hadn’t shown her work to anyone. She’d pursued a career as an editor, discovering she had a talent in assisting others with their work, story structure. It was still playing with words.

  Yet she’d found editing others didn’t bring her the same satisfaction as writing her own words. So she’d continued writing—in her room, in coffee shops, on trains—in secret. Like a sinful pleasure she could indulge in when she wanted to dish out her anger or amusement and, too, her joy at life’s vicissitudes. It wasn’t until this summer, this block of time she’d given herself without interruption, that Harper had decided to write a book. A whole body of work with a beginning, a middle, and an end. She wouldn’t know she could actually write a book until she’d finished one. And, she thought with pleasure, picking up the papers and holding them in her hands, she was nearly done.

  Harper rose and placed the manuscript on her desk, resting her hands on the pile of papers a moment longer with a sense of ownership.

  Her book.

  Her sisters thought she’d been taking the summer off, being idle and relaxing while they scrambled to find jobs and apartments. True, she’d been enjoying her break at Sea Breeze, gardening, swimming, talking with her sisters and roaming the far ends of the island. But she’d been privately working, too. She didn’t dare tell anyone about it because if she did she knew
they’d want to read it. Or at the very least for her to tell them the story.

  No, she thought, tapping the manuscript firmly with the palm of her hand. She would keep her manuscript all to herself. She wasn’t as outgoing as her sister Carson, who was quick with a repartee, funny, a shining star. Nor was she as bold as her eldest sister, Dora, who had strong opinions on every subject and could be intimidating when she offered them—even when not asked for. Harper expressed herself best on paper. Writing was private. She felt free, undeterred by the burden of social convention or her mother’s expectations and criticism.

  And, she thought with a rueful smile, her sisters wouldn’t be pleased to learn that she was writing about them.

  Harper slipped the manuscript into the desk drawer and locked it.

  Outside her window she heard the strident dawn whistles of a bird singing in a nearby tree. She paused to listen, wondering what kind of bird it was that awakened her most mornings. She vowed to find out. She wanted to learn the names of the birds and the trees and the plants of this island that she’d come to love. She’d spent all of her twenty eight years in beautiful places—her mother’s fashionable apartment overlooking Central Park in New York City, the house in the Hamptons, and her grandparents manor house in England. Not to mention the exclusive boarding schools and Ivy Colleges. But nowhere did she feel so at home or content or as much herself as she did here in the lowcountry, by the ocean, at Sea Breeze.