Our Place on the Island: A Novel

by Erika Montgomery

Overview

For decades, the Campbell women have reunited at the family’s rambling seaside cottage known as Beech House to celebrate life’s many occasions. But this year, they will be called back to Martha's Vineyard for a celebration of a different sort: their beloved matriarch Cora is getting remarried. And all the town gossips are calling him the one who got away, years ago…

For renowned chef Mickey Campbell, this wedding isn’t just a welcome excuse to return to the place she first learned to cook at her grandmother’s side. It’s also a chance to regroup while she figures out a way to tell her smoldering head chef boyfriend that she’s mismanaged their restaurant into the red.

Mickey’s mother, Hedy, is still mourning the passing of her adored father three years earlier, and she isn’t sure she’s ready to welcome a new man into the fold—and she’s not certain her own thorny relationship with her mother will weather the storm of her upcoming marriage.

But everyone knows a woman’s heart holds more than meets the eye. For Cora, drawing her daughter and granddaughter back to Beech House isn’t just about a ceremony, but a chance to reveal a history she has kept close to her heart for decades. As the days leading up to the wedding unfold, secrets of Cora’s past come to light— a secret that will cause three generations of Campbell women to question marriage, motherhood, and ultimately learn to savor the delicious joy of following your own heart.

Told in dual timelines on the sumptuous beaches of Martha's Vineyard, Erika Montgomery's OUR PLACE ON THE ISLAND is the sparkling, romantic read of the season.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250783790
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/13/2023
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,021,452
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

A card-carrying cinephile and native New Englander, novelist Erika Montgomery lives with her family in the Mid-Atlantic where she teaches creative writing and watches an unspeakable amount of old movies. She is also the author of A Summer to Remember.

Editorial Reviews

03/20/2023

Three generations of women reunite at their family’s beach house in this passionate tale of love and loss from Montgomery (A Summer to Remember). In 1948, working-class newlywed Cora Campbell struggles to fit in to her husband’s world of wealth. Her neighbors are judgy and her husband is often away on business. Then she meets Max Dempsey, the contractor hired to renovate her kitchen, and the pair develop a strong bond. In 1999, three years after Cora’s husband’s death, she and Max announce their engagement. Her daughter, Hedy, and granddaughter, Mickey, head to Cora’s home on Martha’s Vineyard to celebrate, but secrets threaten to derail the joyful gathering. Hedy is not pleased with someone replacing her father and suspects that her mother may have been having an affair with Max years ago. Mickey, who’s always had a close bond with her grandmother, is more supportive of the union, but she’s keeping a secret from her own boyfriend that casts a pall on her mood. Toggling between the two timelines, Montgomery tells a stirring, magnetic story about the tension between commitment and desire. The characters are as flawed as they are sweet, and their bond rings true. The result is a nostalgic tale that will warm the coldest hearts. (June)

Publishers Weekly

“Our Place on the Island is a gorgeous and warm-hearted novel, full to brimming with the best kinds of love stories. Romances, yes, but also familial love between three generations of women, and perhaps most of all there’s the love of a place — a house infused with the salt air of a thousand summers. Oh, and the food ! You’ll never want to put this book down except to look up the amazing dishes Cora and Mickey concoct. Erika Montgomery has created a rich and irresistible world. Once you turn the first page, you’ll never want to leave.” – Nina de Gramont, New York Times Bestselling author of The Christie Affair

"Captivating from the first word, Erika Montgomery's latest masterpiece is a story about families, about the secrets we keep—even from those we cherish the most—about the enduring power of love, and the way the salty summer air supernaturally soothes all wounds. Reminiscent of books like The Shell Seekers, Our Place on the Island will undoubtedly become a classic summer read that will be picked up again and again by beachgoers generation after generation—grandmother to mother to daughter." - Joy Callaway, International Bestselling author of All the Pretty Places

From the Publisher