“For Patricia Curren, the summer of 1978 begins with a devastating discovery: an unfamiliar black pearl button in the bed she shares with her controlling husband, Jack. Seeking the courage to end her desolate marriage, Patricia spends a quiet summer alone on beautiful Kiawah Island. But when she meets Terry Sloan, a collegiate tennis player trying to go pro, their physical attraction sparks a slow burn toward obsession. Once Patricia and Terry share closely guarded secrets from their pasts, they want more than a summer together. But their love soon fractures, as a potential sponsor takes an unusually keen interest in Terry—both on court and off. And when single, career-driven Lynn Hewitt arrives, other secrets must surface, including the one Patricia has kept from Terry all summer.”
I enjoyed the writing style of the book. Many of the paragraphs seemed lyrical and much of it was moving. I also liked the characters and their varying voices. The story begins and ends in the perspective of Lynn who is Jack’s assistant and becomes every characters’ friend and confidant. She is telling the story as she watches it happen, but the main characters are truly Tricia and Terry. Terry calls Patricia “Tricia,” and this becomes the name of her new personality as things begin to change for her. Both Lynn and Tricia find that they need to break free from Jack and become their own independent selves. Terry, even with his myriad of issues from dyslexia to addiction, serves as the catalyst for Tricia to do this.
Set in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I enjoyed the cultural references to the time period. While I was concerned that the descriptions of tennis matches might be too much for someone who does not play, they did not detract from the rest of the story. I was kept guessing as to how the book would end and I was pleased with the way the story concluded.
I am able to give away a copy of this book! If you would like to win, just let me know in a comment below!
What have you been reading lately?
