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From the bestselling author of Haven Point comes a sweeping historical novel about the generations of a family that spends summers in a seaside enclave on the rocky Maine coastline, for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Beatriz Williams, and Sarah Blake.
1900: 28-year-old Anna Bradley spends summer days supervising three little girls, including her niece, Julia Demarest, on an island off the coast of Haven Point, Maine. There, the girls run free, pretending to be all the things society says they cannot: pirates and rum runners, treasure hunters and Roughriders.
A college graduate determined to remain unmarried, Anna is eager to establish herself independently. Inspired by the summer antics of Julia and her friends, Anna writes "Liberty Island"―a depiction of girls unshackled from the domestic sphere―under a pen name. Young readers are rhapsodic, and it is a runaway bestseller, but it's not well received by the society matrons in her sister's circle, who believe that books for girls should prepare them for their future as wives and mothers.
With "Liberty Island" growing in popularity, Anna's secret is in peril, and when she's suddenly thrown together with the former object of her affections, she must rethink everything she thought she knew about independence, marriage, and her dreams for her future.
1922: 29-year-old Julia Demarest was once proud of her aunt's "Liberty Island" books. But as new, bohemian ideas take hold amongst her peers, she has come to see them as quaint, at best. In hindsight, her childhood summers on the island seem like more of an exile than a liberation, and her Boston Brahmin family―particularly her mother, Elizabeth Demarest―like relics of an unlamented past.
But in an effort to break free of expectations, she has ended up alienated from her family and heartbroken when a romantic entanglement with a free-spirited intellectual ends badly. When Elizabeth urgently calls her back to Haven Point, Julia is confronted by all the things she's been trying to escape, and forced to reconsider what truly brings her happiness.
A sweeping saga set in the first tumultuous decades of the twentieth century, Liberty Island is an ode to mothers and daughters, love, friendship, and the ways in which women define freedom on their own terms.
"Hume has given readers a gem with her atmospheric and charming second novel, Liberty Island. Unfolding across the windswept shores of Maine, the posh society parties of Boston, the teeming streets of New York City and beyond, this follow-up multigenerational tale explores the intersection of family history and long-hidden secrets. With poignant twists of plot and lovingly crafted characters, this is an immersive read that will have you rooting for the strong women who drive this story." ―Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Margaret Fuller
"Liberty Island is a triumph by one of America's most promising authors. Hume's writing is lovely, gentle, and tender. Reading Liberty Island, I felt transported to a simpler time, but also to one that had familiar problems―experimenting with new ideas, trying to fit in, dealing with bullies, coming to terms with your own stubbornness, or falling in love after resisting for too long. A vivid and emotionally true story, set in a beautiful part of the world, that will stay with me for years to come." ―Dana Perino, #1 New York Times bestselling author of And The Good News Is...
This information about Liberty Island was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Virginia Hume is a freelance writer and editor. Her early career was spent in politics and public affairs. She lives outside Washington, D.C. with her husband, their daughters, and an under-groomed bichon named Chester.
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