First published 1991
Kate Burns watches her life unfold in a small North Carolina town where appearances matter more than truth. Her mother Cleva maintains strict religious devotion while her father Fred offers quiet understanding. Kate finds herself drawn to the glamorous mystery of Ferris Beach, where her beautiful cousin Angela lives a life that seems impossibly free compared to Kate's constrained existence. As Kate navigates adolescence, she discovers that the adults around her harbor secrets that challenge everything she believed about family, faith, and belonging. The gap between her mother's rigid expectations and her own emerging desires grows wider with each passing season. Kate must choose between the safety of conformity and the uncertain path of authentic self-discovery in a world that punishes those who dare to be different.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, adolescence, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Ferris Beach, North Carolina
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
Library Binding · Bt Bound