The Summer Wives_A Novel Read online

  I rise awkwardly from the bench and walk to the end of the dock. There are moments when I wonder how he did it—slipped past all those Coast Guard boats, past the tip of Long Island and into infinity. Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was the tide, turning at last in Joseph’s favor. Maybe I’ll never know. Maybe, when our child asks about his father—her father—I’ll simply say that the ocean took him away and never gave him back.

  I lift one hand to my belly and speak again, more clearly. Unless I’m just saying the words in my head. Sometimes, when you’re alone like that, it’s almost the same thing.

  In such a night

  Stood Dido with a willow in her hand

  Upon the wild sea banks, and waft her love

  To come again to Carthage.

  The baby moves beneath my hand, a soft kick, and in that instant a sail appears around the edge of the lighthouse. One of hundreds, of thousands plying these populous waters.

  An ordinary sailboat, carrying an ordinary man, beating its way past the edge of Fleet Rock and up the treacherous channel toward me.

  Author’s Note

  Few people outside the Long Island Sound area have heard of Fisher’s Island, and that’s exactly how residents of this small, discreet enclave like it. As a result, I expect that most readers won’t recognize Fisher’s in my fictional Winthrop Island, and in fact, the two are not identical in geography, history, or population. But the unique and somewhat secretive microculture of Fisher’s Island inspired the writing of this book, and I’m grateful to a few longtime Fisher’s residents—primarily John Talbott and his daughter, Thayer—for sharing their stories and reflections with me. Thanks are also due to my husband’s parents, Sydney and Caroline Williams, who provided additional details that enriched my understanding of this era and the social classes depicted here.

  While some episodes taking place in this novel have their basis in actual events, the characters and the plot are entirely my own invention.

  About the Author

  Beatriz Williams is the bestselling author of eight novels. A native of Seattle, she graduated from Stanford University and earned an MBA in finance from Columbia University, then spent several years in New York and London as a corporate strategy consultant before pursuing her passion for historical fiction. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.

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  Also by Beatriz Williams

  Cocoa Beach

  The Wicked City

  A Certain Age

  Along the Infinite Sea

  Tiny Little Thing

  The Secret Life of Violet Grant

  A Hundred Summers

  Overseas

  Copyright

  the summer wives. Copyright © 2018 by Beatriz Williams. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  first edition

  Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa

  Cover photographs, front: © Clifford Coffin/Condé Nast/Getty Images; panel: © Kraphix/Shutterstock

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

  Digital Edition JULY 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-266036-7

  Print ISBN: 978-0-06-266034-3

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