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.
Genre: Historical
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.
Genre: Historical
Praise for this book
"Liberty Island sweeps us into a Maine summer world where wild-hearted girls imagine themselves as pirates and treasure hunters, and one daring woman dares to write them into being. This story is a thrilling journey about the cost of independence, the necessity of re-imagining our future as women who will not be defined by others, and the power of children's literature to shape not only stories, but lives. With vivid characters, Virginia Hume reminds us that the true work of transformation is to ask what truly matters and to listen, with courage, for the answer. Like the tides that shape the rocky Maine shore, Liberty Island traces the lives of free-spirited girls becoming women who learn that true freedom is found in fierce love, community, and the family we dare to claim - and you'll never want to leave its shores." - Patti Callahan Henry
"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
"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
"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
"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
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