![]() ![]() With a note of pride, the hotel was situated on prime real estate on the enviable stretch of the coast in the coveted enclave of Gin Lane. Mingling amongst the crowded opulent ballroom, conversations emphasized the recent press headlines boasting The Everleigh as Southampton’s highly anticipated new establishment. When the young couple dressed for the hotel’s grand opening as hosts of the inaugural gala, she grew excited for their first evening party as The Everleigh proprietors. With warm reflection, the elaborate beachfront accommodations could serve a two-fold purpose: an exquisite summer getaway for their future children, and to appease Roland’s father with his inheritance. As her spirits renewed, she focused her thoughts on their Bronxville home back in the city waiting for them post-wedding. ![]() Her fiance had remembered to pack it for her. Everleigh began unpacking when her hand landed on her beloved camera. And the flirty receptionist hadn’t gone unnoticed! She only hoped there weren’t any more surprises.Īshamed of her insecurities, she shrugged off the pesky feelings taking in the unobstructed ocean views from her private balcony. Roland knew how she felt about living in a hotel. A nagging pinch ran along the base of her neck. After a brief tour of Roland’s new architectural masterpiece, introductions to the staff, and settling into their respective suites, she realized what had just transpired. How could he have built her a hotel without consulting her first?! She composed herself and offered an adequate expression of appreciation while her eyes took in its enormity. Everleigh drew in several long breaths as her heart sank. Instead of adoring her fiance’s gift, the flooding memories of the loneliness she had experienced during her childhood at The Plaza proved inescapable. The Manhattan debutante was rendered speechless. Happy early wedding present, pet.” The Everleigh Beach Club Hotel sign was unmistakable with its sizeable gold-embossed lettering. Approaching the sprawling lawn, he beamed, “For my lovely Lee. Sunrise Highway opened up in front of the green MG roadster, and with her hands gripping the steering wheel perforated with tiny supple leather dots, Everleigh hollered to Roland, “Is this thing a car - or a rocket?” (Opening Lines, Chapter One)Īs they neared their destination, just like a giddy child, Roland pointed toward a spectacular three-story beauty beyond the dunes. Everleigh’s reeling mind slowed once outside the city limits permitting the winds of freedom to breeze over her relaxed features. Raised in privileged surroundings at The Plaza Hotel, and under constant supervision by personal staff, her first unchaperoned excursion promised to be unforgettable. With five months until the wedding, Roland had somehow convinced the soon-to-be-inlaws that their separate accommodations on Long Island were entirely proper. As an only child of a prominent Manhattan elite couple, Everleigh allowed the exhilaration of the race from New York City to the Hamptons to capture the distinct liberation from her parents’ watchful eyes. At the ripe old age of 24, and at last betrothed, she relished her good fortune of landing her handsome fiance, Roland Whittaker. Prologue Excerpt (May 22, 1956), On Gin LaneĮnamored with her engagement to the son of the established Whittakers of the Detroit auto empire, Everleigh Farrow could just pinch herself. ![]() She would finally graduate from this strange pergatory she was living in, where she was no longer a college girl and not yet a young bride, but something purposeless in between. Madame poured her tea in a porcelain cup with violets on it, and after taking it, Everleigh spun a honey stick at the center, watching the tea leaves swirl like a whirlpool, then finding comfort when they settled on the bottom. Each unfolding provocative drama dripping off the well-crafted characters left me no choice but to soak up every word and dive deeper into this slippery saga. The author doesn’t mince words when showing the contrasting worlds between a privileged life and the working class. Set in the late 1950s, it was a delicious surprise and accurate depiction of this epic era when well-bred women rarely worked and most were married (or engaged) by college graduation. Will you look at that cover with an oversized orange beach umbrella stiffly pitched along blinding white sand? Sizzling hot! I hadn’t heard a peep about this gem from my bookish friends so call it an end-of-the-summer impulse based solely on the hook of the blurb. | Emerging from a wave of summer reading, I singled out one last beachy novel to share before the cold months tuck in for a bit, and I’m sipping hot cocoa.
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