by Sarah Blake
First published 2001
Maisie Thomas arrives at Grange House for another summer at the Maine coastal hotel in 1896. She is seventeen now, and this visit feels different. The morning after her arrival, fishermen pull two drowned lovers from the water, their bodies locked together in a final embrace. The grim discovery sets an ominous tone for what should be a carefree season. Miss Grange, the hotel's refined proprietress, takes special interest in Maisie and begins sharing unsettling tales from her own past. Meanwhile, two young men compete for Maisie's attention, each offering a different path forward. As the summer unfolds, these disturbing stories and romantic complications weave together, forcing Maisie to confront adult realities she never anticipated. Blake captures the customs and speech of the 1890s while building tension through seemingly ordinary moments at the seaside retreat.
Genres: fiction, romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, love-triangle
Setting: Grange House, Maine
Period: 1896
376 pages · Paperback · Picador