On Ocean Boulevard (The Beach House)

Product Description
This instant
New York Times
bestseller from the author of
The Summer Guests
is
set on the Isle of Palms and offers “magical depictions of the lowcountry and the charms of her characters” (Elin Hilderbrand, #1
New York Times
bestselling author) in a breathtaking novel that recounts one family’s summer of forging new beginnings against the enduring beauty and resilience of the natural world.
It’s been sixteen years since Caretta “Cara” Rutledge has returned home to the beautiful shores of Charleston, South Carolina. Over those years, she has weathered the tides of deaths and births, struggles and joys. And now, as Cara prepares for her second wedding, her life is about to change yet again.
Meanwhile, the rest of the storied Rutledge family is also in flux. Cara’s niece Linnea returns to Sullivan’s Island to begin a new career and an unexpected relationship. Linnea’s parents, having survived bankruptcy, pin their hopes and futures on the construction of a new home on Ocean Boulevard. But as excitement over the house and wedding builds, a devastating illness strikes the family and brings plans to a screeching halt. It is under these trying circumstances that the Rutledge family must come together yet again to discover the enduring strength in love, tradition, and legacy from mother to daughter to granddaughter.
Like the sea turtles that come ashore annually on these windswept islands, three generations of the Rutledge family experience a season of return, rebirth, and growth. “A heartwarming story of lowcountry love, loyalty, and longstanding friendships” (
Booklist),
On Ocean Boulevard is Mary Alice Monroe at her very best.
About the Author
Mary Alice Monroe is the
New York Times bestselling author of twenty-seven books, including the bestselling The Beach House series. Monroe also writes children’s picture books, and a new middle grade fiction series called The Islanders. She is a member of the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame, and her books have received numerous awards, including the South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing; the South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence; the SW Florida Author of Distinction Award; the RT Lifetime Achievement Award; the International Book Award for Green Fiction; the Henry Bergh Children’s Book Award; and her novel,
A Lowcountry Christmas, won the prestigious Southern Prize for Fiction.
The Beach House is a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, starring Andie MacDowell. Several of her novels have been optioned for film. She is the cocreator and cohost of the weekly web show and podcast
Friends & Fiction. Monroe is also an active conservationist and serves on several boards. She lives on the South Carolina coast, which is a source of inspiration for many of her books.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter One
Chapter One
The lowcountry, also known as the low country, is, as the name implies, a low-lying area along the South Carolina Atlantic coast. This area is rich with unique culture, geography, architecture, economy, cuisine… and stories.
THE LOWCOUNTRY WAS spread out far below as she soared in the sky. Linnea Rutledge sighed and placed her fingertips on the plane’s cool window, her eyes tracing the twisting creeks and winding rivers that snaked through the seemingly impenetrable greenery of the salt marsh. From her vantage point, the rivers looked like great arteries, and all the myriad creeks were veins. Salt water coursed through them like a bloodstream. The tides were the lowcountry’s pumping heart.
As the plane descended, bringing the landscape closer and closer, Linnea felt that salt water thrumming in her own veins, as it did for all who called the lowcountry home. Her connection to the landscape—and its crown jewel, Charleston—was as vital as an umbilical cord.
She should be happy returning to her home, her family, her friends. Instead, she felt demoralized. A fa