She felt it now She was slipping into the insistent undertow of the past There was no use fighting it It was so easy to simply close her eyes And relinquish Autumn brings its own haunting beauty to the sun-soaked beaches and dunes on Isle of Palms where Olivia Lovie Rutledge lives in her beloved Primrose Cottage with her daughter Cara Looking back as summer fades Lovie can remember many island summers but especially one In America was changing but Charleston remained eternally the same Lovie had always done what was expectedmarrying the son of a historic Charleston family Stratton Rutledge and turning over her fortune and fate to his control But one thing she steadfastly refuses to relinquish her familys old seaside cottage The precious summers spent on the barrier island are Lovies refuge Here she can escape with her children from the social expectations of her traditional Southern mother and her overbearing husbands ambition and philandering Here she indulges her lifelong vocation as a Turtle Lady tending the loggerhead sea turtles that lay their eggs in the warm night sand and then slip back into the sea This summer however is different Visiting biologist Russell Bennett arrives on the island to research the loggerheads What begins as a shared passion for the turtles changes to a love far more passionate and profound than Lovie has ever knownbut one that forces her to face the most agonizing decision of her life For Charlestons elite divorce is an unforgivable scandal and Strattons influence is far-reaching If Lovie dares to dream beyond a summer affair she risks losing everything her reputation her wealth even her precious children Beach House Memoriesa poignant and emotional tale of a strong passionate woman torn between duty and desire between the traditions of the old South and the social changes sweeping Americawill capture your heart For Lovie it is an empowering journey of seasons of self-discovery Until this autumn this time of changing tides of holding on and letting go.
