An instant New York Times bestseller! "Storytelling for young readers at its finest--equal parts summer adventure and environmental suspense...[a] love letter to family, friendship, and the natural world." --Kwame Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The Crossover From New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe comes a beautiful story of friendship, loss, and the healing power of nature in her first book for middle grade readers. Eleven-year-old Jake's life has just turned upside-down. His father was wounded in Afghanistan, and his mother is going to leave to care for him. That means Jake's spending the summer on tiny Dewees Island with his grandmother. The island is a nature sanctuary--no cars or paved roads, no stores or restaurants. To make matters worse, Jake's grandmother doesn't believe in cable or the internet. Which means Jake has no cell phone, no video games...and no friends. This is going to be the worst summer ever! He's barely on the island before he befriends two other kids--Macon, another "summer kid," and Lovie, a know-it-all who lives there and shows both Jake and Macon the ropes of life on the island. All three are struggling with their own family issues and they quickly bond, going on adventures all over Dewees Island. Until one misadventure on an abandoned boat leads to community service. Their punishment? Mandatory duty on the Island Turtle Team. The kids must do a daily dawn patrol of the beach on the hunt for loggerhead sea turtle tracks. When a turtle nest is threatened by coyotes, the three friends must find a way to protect it. Can they save the turtle nest from predators? Can Jake's growing love for the island and its inhabitants (be they two-legged, four-legged, feathered, or finned) help to heal his father?

The sequel to New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe's The Islanders, an "exciting, tender, and absolutely wonderful" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) story of friendship, loss, and the healing power of nature. Jake Potter is back on Dewees Island for another summer with his beloved grandmother, Honey. This time, Jake is excited that his dad will be there as he continues to recover from his injuries sustained in Afghanistan. But Jake also knows they both need get used to a new normal, which isn't easy. Jake also discovers that his two best friends, Macon and Lovie, are struggling as well. Macon is adjusting to being a big brother, while Lovie is navigating a new relationship with her dad, who has long been absent in her life. To cheer everyone up, Jake decides that the trio needs a new mission, just like they had the previous summer in saving the turtles. He discovers that his dad loved spending time in an old tree fort on the island, and there is a special treasure box hidden somewhere nearby. Jake just knows if he can find it, maybe his dad will be happy again--and he knows Macon and Lovie are the perfect fellow treasure hunters! Their search leads them to discover there might be actual buried treasure somewhere on Dewees, all while they battle some unwelcome guests on the island, of both the two- and four-legged kind! On the three friends' biggest quest yet, they realize that the treasures they really want in life were with them all along.

Sweetgrass is a historic tract of land in South Carolina that has been home to the Blakely family for eight generations. But Sweetgrass--named for the indigenous grass that grows in the area--is in trouble. Taxes are skyrocketing. Bulldozers are leveling the surrounding properties. And the Blakelys could be forced to sell the one thing that continues to hold their disintegrating family together.
In this poignant novel of hope, acceptance and the powerful gift of forgiveness, Mary Alice Monroe paints an intimate portrait of a family that must learn to unravel old patterns and weave together a new future.

From "New York Times "bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe, the heartwarming first installment in the Lowcountry Summer trilogy, a poignant series following three half-sisters and their grandmother.
Three granddaughters. Three months. One summer house.
In this enchanting trilogy set on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, "New York Times" bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe captures the complex relationships between Dora, Carson, and Harper, three half-sisters scattered across the country--and a grandmother determined to help them rediscover their family bonds.
For years, Carson Muir has drifted, never really settling, certain only that a life without the ocean is a life half lived. Adrift and penniless in California, Carson is the first to return to Sea Breeze, wondering where things went wrong...until the sea she loves brings her a minor miracle. Her astonishing bond with a dolphin helps Carson renew her relationships with her sisters and face the haunting memories of her ill-fated father. As the rhythms of the island open her heart, Carson begins to imagine the next steps toward her future.
In this heartwarming novel, three sisters discover the true treasures Sea Breeze offers as surprising truths are revealed, mistakes forgiven, and precious connections made that will endure long beyond one summer.

With a strong, warm voice that brings the South to life, "New York Times" bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe writes richly textured stories that intimately portray the complex and emotional relationships we share with families, friends, and the natural world. "Every book that Mary Alice Monroe has written has felt like a homecoming to me," writes Pat Conroy, bestselling author of "The Prince of Tides."
"Time Is a River" is an insightful novel that will sweep readers away to the seductive southern landscape, joining books by authors such as Anne Rivers Siddons and Sue Monk Kidd.
Recovering from breast cancer and reeling from her husband's infidelity, Mia Landan flees her Charleston home to heal in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. She seeks refuge in a neglected fishing cabin belonging to her fly-fishing instructor, Belle Carson.
Belle recently inherited the cabin, which once belonged to a grandmother she never knew -- the legendary fly fisher and journalist of the 1920s, Kate Watkins, whose life fell into ruins after she was accused of murdering her lover. Her fortune lost in the stock market crash and her reputation destroyed, Kate slipped into seclusion in the remote cabin. After her death the fishing cabin remained locked and abandoned for decades. Little does Belle know that by opening the cabin doors to Mia for a summer's sanctuary, she will open again the scandal that plagued Belle's family for generations.
From her first step inside the dusty cabin, Mia is fascinated by the traces of Kate's mysterious story left behind in the eccentric furnishings of the cabin. And though Belle, ashamed of the tabloid scandal that tortured her mother, warns Mia not to stir the mud, Mia is compelled to find out more about Kate...especially when she discovers Kate's journal.
The inspiring words of the remarkable woman echo across the years. Mia has been learning to fly-fish, and Kate's wise words comparing life to a river resonate deeply. She begins a quest to uncover the truth behind the lies. As she searches newspaper archives and listens to the colorful memories of the local small-town residents, the story of a proud, fiercely independent woman emerges. Mia feels a strange kinship with the woman who, like her, suffered fears, betrayal, the death of loved ones, and a fall from grace -- yet found strength, compassion and, ultimately, forgiveness in her isolation. A story timeless in its appeal emerges, with a power that reopens old wounds, but also brings a transforming healing for Mia, for Kate's descendants, and for all those in Mia's new community.

Mary Alice Monroe, "New York Times" bestselling author of the Lowcountry Summer trilogy, returns to her beloved South with "Beach House Memories," the sequel to "The Beach House," now in paperback
Autumn brings haunting beauty to the sun-soaked dunes on Isle of Palms, where Olivia "Lovie" Rutledge lives in her beloved Primrose Cottage. As the seasons change, Lovie remembers one special summer...
In 1974, America is changing, but Charleston remains eternally the same. When Lovie married aristocratic, well-connected businessman Stratton Rutledge, she turned over her fortune and fate to his control. But she refused to relinquish one thing: her family's old seaside cottage. Precious summers with her children on the barrier island are Lovie's refuge from social expectations and her overbearing husband's philandering. Here, she is the "Turtle Lady," tending the loggerhead turtles that lay their eggs in the warm night sand and then slip back into the sea.
Then, in the summer of '74, biologist Russell Bennett visits to research the loggerheads. Their shared interest brings them together, and soon it blooms into a passionate, profound love--forcing Lovie to face an agonizing decision. Stratton's influence is far-reaching, and if she dares to dream beyond a summer affair, she risks losing her reputation, her wealth, even her children.
This emotional tale of a strong woman torn between duty and desire, between tradition and change, is an empowering journey through the seasons of self-discovery. Until this autumn, this time of winds and tides, of holding on and letting go...

Mary Alice Monroe, "New York Times" bestselling author of the Lowcountry Summer trilogy, once again touches hearts with her lyrical, poignant, and moving novel "The Butterfly's Daughter," now in paperback
Every year, the monarch butterflies--"las mariposas"--fly more than two thousand miles on fragile wings to return to their winter home in Mexico. Now Luz Avila makes that same perilous journey south as she honors a vow to her beloved "abuela"--the grandmother who raised her--to return her ashes to her ancestral village. As Luz departs Milwaukee in a ramshackle old VW Bug, she finds her heart opened by a series of seemingly random encounters with remarkable women. In San Antonio, however, a startling revelation awaits: a reunion with a woman from her past. Together, the two cross into Mexico to await the returning monarchs in the little village Abuela called home, but they are also crossing a border that separates past from present . . . and truth from lies.

Last Light Over Carolina
Every woman in the sultry South Carolina low country knows the unspoken fear that clutches the heart every time her man sets out to sea. Now, that fear has become a terrible reality for Carolina Morrison. Her husband, shrimp boat captain Bud Morrison, is lost and alone somewhere in the vast Atlantic fishing grounds, with a storm gathering and last light falling. Over the course of one terrifying, illuminating day, Carolina looks back across thirty years of love and loss, joy and sorrow: How she rejected a well-to-do upbringing to marry Bud and embrace his extraordinary lifestyle by the sea . . . how hard times and loneliness have driven them apart . . . and how, with one mistake, she may have shattered their once-unbreakable bond forever. While their the close-knit community rallies together to search for one of its own, Carolina knows their love must somehow call him home, across miles of rough water and unspeakable memories.
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New York Times "bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe explores a vanishing feature of the southern coastline, the mysterious yet time-honored shrimping culture, in a compelling tale of a strong woman struggling to prove that love is a light that never dies.

"The Summer Wind" is the second book in Monroe's Lowcountry Summer trilogy, following the "New York Times" bestselling "The Summer Girls." This series is a poignant and heartwarming story of three half-sisters and their grandmother, who is determined to help them rediscover their southern roots and family bonds.
It's midsummer and Eudora, nicknamed Dora, is staying at Sea Breeze, the family's ancestral home on Sullivan's Island. For years, Dora has played the role of the perfect wife and mother in a loveless marriage. Now her husband filed for divorce, her child is diagnosed with autism, and her house is on the market. Dora's facade collapses under the weight of her grief and she suffers "broken heart syndrome." Mamaw and the girls rally around Dora--but it's up to Dora to heal herself as she spends the summer prowling the beach, discovering the secrets of the island and her heart. This is a summer of discovery for all the women of Sea Breeze. Carson returns from Florida to face life-changing decisions, Lucille confronts a health scare, and an unexpected visitor has Harper reconsidering her life's direction.
When tropical storm winds batter the island, the women must band together and weather the tempest--both the one outside their windows and the raging sea of emotions within each of them. They must learn again what it means to be a sister. It is up to Mamaw to keep the light burning at Sea Breeze to guide the girls through the lies, the threats, and the rocky waters of indecision to home.

Set in the early 1950s rural South, One Good Mama Bone chronicles Sarah Creamer's quest to find her "mama bone" after she is left to care for a boy who is not her own but instead is the product of an affair between her husband and her best friend and neighbor, a woman she calls "Sister." When her husband drinks himself to death, Sarah, a dirt-poor homemaker with no family to rely on and the note on the farm long past due, must find a way for her and young Emerson Bridge to survive. But the more daunting obstacle is Sarah's fear that her mother's words, seared in her memory since she first heard them at the age of six, were a prophesy: "You ain't got you one good mama bone in you, girl." When Sarah reads in the local newspaper that a boy won $680 with his Grand Champion steer at the recent 1951 Fat Cattle Show & Sale, she sees this as their financial salvation and finds a way to get Emerson Bridge a steer from a local farmer to compete in the 1952 show. But the young calf is unsettled at Sarah's farm, crying out in distress and growing louder as the night wears on. Some four miles away, the steer's mother hears his cries and breaks out of a barbed-wire fence to go in search of him. The next morning Sarah finds the young steer quiet, content, and nursing on a large cow. Inspired by the mother cow's act of love, Sarah names her Mama Red. And so Sarah's education in motherhood begins with Mama Red as her teacher. But Luther Dobbins, the man who sold Sarah the steer, has his sights set on winning too, and, like Sarah, he is desperate, but not for money. Dobbins is desperate for glory, wanting to regain his lost Grand Champion dynasty, and he will stop at nothing to win. Emboldened by her lessons from Mama Red and her budding mama bone, Sarah is fully committed to victory until she learns the winning steer's ultimate fate. Will she stop at nothing, even if it means betraying her teacher? McClain's writing is distinguished by a sophisticated and detailed portrayal of the day-to-day realities of rural poverty and an authentic sense of time and place that marks the best southern fiction. Her characters transcend their archetypes, and her animal-as-teacher theme recalls the likes of Water for Elephants and The Art of Racing in the Rain. One Good Mama Bone explores the strengths and limitations of parental love, the healing power of the human-animal bond, and the ethical dilemmas of raising animals for food. Mary Alice Monroe, a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of eighteen novels and two children's books, provides a foreword to the novel.

South Carolina teens share their stories and ideas about how to make their home state better. How can we make South Carolina better? Normally this question is reserved for lawmakers and voters, but Writing South Carolina, volume 3, gives voice to 50 high school juniors and seniors from across the State who have offered suggestions. The University of South Carolina Honors College annual writing contest presents a necessary voice for them as well as a revealing portrait of their lives and desires using their own words and insights. Contest judge Mary Alice Monroe has said of the contributing students, "They are astonishingly talented, further ahead in the game than I was at their age." Through a variety of short, creative genres, students share their own gripping experiences in South Carolina, often about growing up and going to school here. This year's selections range from poems about the cycle of abuse to short stories about minimum wage to essays about problematic sex education in public schools. Writing South Carolina, volume 3, offers a collection steeped in creativity, honesty, and clarity. High school students witness and encounter some of the most subtle and serious problems in South Carolina's school system-and they demand change. Monroe, a New York Times best-selling author of children's books and novels, including A Lowcountry Christmas and The Butterfly's Daughter, provides a foreword.

"The magic of innocence and the romance of hope will charm the reader." Nora Roberts

"I laughed, I cried and I felt like a kid again, experiencing the magic of an unforgettable love story. Mary Alice Monroe has won a fan for life with this spectacular book." New York Times bestselling author Teresa Medeiros

Sometimes fairy tales do come true...

As a single mother of two, Faye O'Neill has no time for fairy tales. She's not even certain she believes in luck. Practical, smart and desperate to escape a shadowy past, Faye takes a job at a top advertising firm in London where she hopes she and her children can find a fresh start. When she finds the beautiful two-story flat for rent in a stately old Victorian complete with a neglected but tumbling English garden, she can scarcely believe her good fortune. But it's not long before Faye realizes everything in the old home may be as peaceful as it seems.

A strange light begins to appear in her children's rooms at night, and then there's the reclusive elderly tenant, Crazy Wendy, her landlady warned her to steer clear of, the woman who spends her evenings spying on Faye's children from her garret-room window. The woman who believes she is Peter Pan's Wendy. To make matters worse, Faye, who has sworn off men, discovers her downstairs neighbor Jack is a disturbingly handsome professor with a talent for charming women and children alike. Before she knows it, Faye has embarked upon a whole new adventure into a world where anything might be possible, where broken hearts can be healed by a kiss, and where Neverland may not be a place of fables, but a forgotten land one can still find if they are only brave enough to follow the second star to the right.

"Mary Alice Monroe breathes new life into the timeless legend of Peter Pan-and the result is nothing short of magical. Second Star to the Right will whisk you away at the whim of this masterful storyteller." Signe Pike, bestselling author of Faery Tale

Mary Alice Monroe invites you to meet five remarkable characters as she explores the power of friendship with tenderness, honesty and understanding.
On the surface, it is a monthly book club. But for five women, it is so much more. For Eve Porter, whose husband's sudden death cheats her of every security she had planned on, the club is a place of sanctuary. For Annie Blake, a brilliant attorney intent on starting a family late in life, it is the chance to finally let down her guard and dream of other possibilities. For Doris Bridges, it is her support group as she acknowledges her dying marriage and finds the ultimate freedom in her husband's betrayal. For Gabriella Rivera, the perfect wife, mother and friend who offers support to everyone but is afraid to ask for it herself, it is a sense of community. And for Midge Kirsch, an artist who has always lived her life against the grain, it is a haven of acceptance.
They are five women from different walks of life, embracing the challenge of change. And as they share their hopes and fears and triumphs, they will hold fast to the true magic of the book club--friendship.