Summer at Hideaway Key: A Novel by Barbara Davis

Summer at Hideaway Key: A Novel.  Barbara Davis. Penguin Group (USA). August 2015. 416 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451474582.

Betrayal after betrayal, all in the name of protecting a beloved sibling! Like a hurricane that grows in strength in between landfalls, the cataclysmic events that caused a lifelong rift between Lily Mae and Caroline began with a seemingly innocent trip.  Their mother was abandoned by her husband and she in turn left them alone and defenseless in a home for the poor in a small Tennessee town, a place that left horrific scars in Lily Mae.  Caroline never believed that what happened to her sister was a loving act and from that day the wound between them grew exponentially.

The girls survived by becoming models and then the trail grew cold after Caroline spent years with her husband Roland and daughter Lily.  Now Roland and Lily Mae are dead and Roland has left Lily a small beach cottage in Hideaway Key, Florida.  Imagine her shock when she finds a rundown shack filled with boxes, papers, magazines, fancy furniture and the finest of crystal and other formal dinnerware.  This then is the journey of truth that begins for Lily, a series of revelations through the diaries left by Lily Mae, comments made by neighbors, news articles from New York papers and magazines, and letters written by the characters involved in years of secrecy.

Lily meets her nearest neighbor, Dean, an architect who on his first visit wants to buy the cottage left to Lily by her aunt.  At this initial meeting, they are really like-minded individuals who do everything possible to avoid any semblance of commitment in order to protect each one from being rejected and abandoned.  The past rules their thoughts and feelings on a daily basis.  This is another journey of discovery and shedding of hardened skin layers that are more destructive than constructive. 

Summer at Hideaway Key… is a delightful summer read filled with shocks and secrets that never allow the reader’s interest to lag.  It’s a novel about telling honest truth rather than convenient truths designed to insulate one’s feelings, the latter truths which really never succeed in their conscious or unconscious designs.  It’s about the sacrifices one makes and endures to express and protect real love.  It’s quite simply a well-crafted, evocative, poignant and beautiful story.  It’s name belies the beautiful love behind all the misunderstandings, gossip, machinations and petty acts that desperately need forgiveness and redemption.  This is highly recommended contemporary, romance fiction – so nicely crafted by Barbara Davis.  A fine job done, indeed!

The Wishing Tide by Barbara Davis

The Wishing Tide.  Barbara Davis. Penguin Group (USA). September 2014. 416 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451418784.

Lane Kramer escaped from a devastatingly bad marriage, loss of a child, and the manipulations of her family!  Her wounds are deep but her strength formidable as she finally settles in Starry Point, North Carolina where she starts afresh by renovating and running a bed and breakfast inn on the beach.  It’s a quaint home resembling a castle more than a home and yet Lane has made into a cozy, welcoming home that appeals to every visitor.  It’s now the end of the season and Lane’s anticipating time to write the light articles as a free lance writer that keeps her financially secure.  She once was a writer but that, as far as she’s concerned, was just another failure.  Little does she know the cycle of adventure and chilling mystery about to infiltrate every aspect of her life!

On the evening before the storm hits, a young, handsome man, Michael Forrester, knocks on Lane’s door and literally begs her for shelter.  She ambivalently agrees and he soon becomes a fixture planning to remain through the winter.  He’s also a writer, but a scholarly, academic writer researching the life of Charles Dickens. Shockingly, the reader finds he knows intimate details about her home and the haunted home across the street, a secret only revealed to the reader and not to Lane, at least not for quite a while. How can a relationship develop with so much chaos and pain lurking with no apparent resolution?

Add to the mix that Lane meets a scary woman, Mary, who appears as a bag lady and who gradually shares her story, at times sounding rational and at other times exhibiting frightening and bizarre behavior.  While Michael tries to warn Lane about the dangers Mary poses, Lane’s compassion and curiosity propel her to discover a story that is phenomenally Gothic and terrible, involving more people on this quiet island than the reader could originally imagine.

To say more would spoil a magnificent thriller of a tale, one that is sure to please every reader who loves a dark, Gothic tale with more twists and turns than anyone could predict.  The evolution of Mary’s story is carefully plotted at just the right pace, a story that will bring healing and wholeness to many but not until much suffering and forgiveness has been broached.

The Wishing Tide is a fine mystery and romance story that this reviewer recommends for great reading any time of year!  Finely crafted, Barbara Davis – oh, and this would also make a phenomenal movie!

The Secrets She Carried: A Novel by Barbara Davis

The Secrets She Carried.  Barbara Davis.  Penguin Group (USA). October 2013. 384 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 978045141877.

Leslie Nichols ran away to New York City years ago but now she’s returned to Peak Plantation in North Carolina to discover that she’s been left half of the plantation by her grandmother, Maggie.  She’s not pleased when she discovers a stranger, Jay Davenport, was left the other half.  When they first meet, their conversation flounders into the drastic opposite of warm and fuzzy; it gets even worse when Leslie realizes Jay resents her long absence and resents her arriving to quash the plans he had for beginning a winery on the property. It was Jay who Maggie had confided in for years, even her hope that Leslie would return to where she belonged on the plantation.  Jay is suspicious about why Leslie left but really doesn’t have a clue to the real reasons that haunt her to this day.

Several surprises surface during this story of these two stubborn, ornery creatures getting to know each other better and even more.  It turns out Jay has his own share of secrets that made him quit using his very popular talent and left him riddled with profound pain.  When Leslie begins to realize this, she begins to cool down and make room for both of them to let go of the past and move forward. But the road will be difficult and fraught with brash and soft words.

Leslie begins to clean out her grandmother’s home and is struck by some jewels she found and some paintings of her grandfather that have an uncanny resemblance in the main figure that is powerful beyond the obvious sexiness of the works.  There’s also a story to be told about Henry Gavin’s wife and Henry’s lover, a lady’s maid named Adele Laveau.  It goes far beyond the alcoholic and drug addict that Susanne Gavin has become, far beyond the multiple pregnancies she’s lost, and far beyond her inability to make Henry truly love her.  One doesn’t quite know whether to hate or to pity her, probably a huge mixture of both.  But there’s a mystery surrounding the death of Adele and the silence of Susanne, Maggie, Henry and even the folks in town.

To add to the drama, Leslie’s father, Jimmy, shows up, having finished his prison sentence. But as unwelcome as he is, Jimmy needs Leslie to forgive him and offer him a chance. 

No one is beyond forgiveness; it surfaces in so many different ways.  As it is so tritely but truthfully said so often, one can run but can’t hide from the past.  This is the story of a journey of healing with intrigue, humor, mystery, secrets, romance and hope.  While it starts out fairly slowly, it quickly picks up and the reader won’t be able to stop reading.  Be prepared for some late nights reading, with some take-out dinners and less sleep than customary.  Barbara Davis has written a poignant, enigmatic, and loving novel that will delight all who relish a great story. Well-crafted and exciting work of contemporary fiction!

Highly recommended!