The Beach House - First Chapter / First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday

     Today's post features The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe. It's a beautifully written story about 40-year-old Cara and her mother who is dying of lung cancer. Cara goes back home to the barrier islands of South Carolina and while caring for her mother, confronts issues that have followed her since she was a child. Loggerhead turtles figure in the plot too, and I learned a lot about them through this story.
     Seems like a lot of the books I've been reading lately are set at the beach. Maybe it's time for a getaway to someplace warm! 
FYI: This book is part of a trilogy.


First Paragraph:
Prologue
     It was twilight and a brilliant red sun lazily made its hazy descent off the South Carolina coast. Lovie Rutledge stood alone on a small, rolling sand dune and watched as two young children with hair the same sandy color as the beach squealed and cavorted, playing the age-old game of tag with the sea. A shaky half smile lifted the corners of her mouth. The boy couldn't have been more than four years of age yet he was aggressively charging the water, the stick in his hand pointing outward like a sword. Then, turning on his heel, he ran back up the beach, chased by a wave. Poor fellow was tagged more often than not. But the girl... Was she seven or eight? Now there was a skilled player. She danced on tiptoe, getting daringly close to the foamy wave, instinctively knowing the second to back away, taunting the water with her high laugh.

Teaser (from Page 179 of my paperback):
     Brett slowed their pace and the engine lowered to a bubbly growl as he expertly motored through the jungle of grass, his eyes on the bank, one hand on the rudder. It was like being Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart on the African Queen, she thought to herself.
    "Are we almost there, Mr. Allnut?"

Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction
Length: 407 Pages (paperback)
Amazon Link: The Beach House
Author Website Link: Mary Alice Monroe

Synopsis:
Caretta Rutledge thought she’d left her Southern roots and troubled family far behind. But an unusual request from her mother coming just as her own life is spinning out of control has Cara heading back to the scenic Lowcountry of her childhood summers. Before long, the rhythms of the island open her heart in wonderful ways as she repairs the family beach house, becomes a bona fide “turtle lady” and renews old acquaintances long thought lost. But it is in reconnecting with her mother that she will learn life’s most precious lessons true love involves sacrifice, family is forever and the mistakes of the past can be forgiven.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

Link at BibliophileByTheSea

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