Under the Stars
Williams, a beloved and prolific author of romantic historical novels featuring interconnected narratives, returns to the setting of Winthrop Island (her fictional version of Fishers Island off the Connecticut coast). Like most of her novels, this is a dual-timeline story: in the present day, Audrey Fisher, disappointed chef and daughter of gorgeous film star Meredith, has reluctantly agreed to accompany her mother to their crumbling family summer home to help her dry out. Their relationship is turbulent, but Audrey has just been fleeced and abandoned by her husband and restaurant partner, and has nothing better to do with her summer. On the island, both women reacquaint themselves with Mike Kennedy, Meredith’s childhood sweetheart and Audrey’s father; and with handsome newcomer, tech entrepreneur, and ultimate preppie Sedge Peabody. Audrey’s depression soon heals in the excitement of helping her father renovate his shabby bar with Sedge’s enthusiastic backing.
The venerable building, however, contains a secret that the reader slowly discovers in the interwoven narrative of a young woman, Providence Dare, survivor of a tragic 1846 shipwreck on Winthrop Island’s rocky coast. Providence has found herself on the doomed Atlantic because she’s fleeing the detective investigating the violent death of her former employer, a tragic but beloved landscape artist. The story of just how he died, and how Providence was involved, might either die with her in the icy waters – or at the end of a noose – unless she can convince the detective of her innocence, and Williams keeps the reader guessing right up to the end.
Williams excels at these multi-period, multi-viewpoint stories, nimbly moving from one charming voice to the next with witty dialogue and carefully structured plotting. Her books are quintessential “beach reads” that offer both emotional and intellectual delights with her nuanced characters and careful research.
