July 12 – Beatriz Williams (The Golden Hour) at Kimbel’s, Wachesaw
The new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives brings Second World War-era Nassau to incandescent life in this brilliantly original epic of espionage and human courage inside the court of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The Bahamas, 1941. Newly-widowed Leonora “Lulu” Randolph arrives in Nassau to investigate the Governor and his wife for a fashionable New York magazine. After all, American readers have an insatiable appetite for news of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, that infamous couple whose love affair nearly brought the British monarchy to its knees five years earlier. What more compelling backdrop than a wartime Caribbean paradise, a colonial playground for kingpins of ill-gotten empires? Or so Lulu imagines. But as she infiltrates the Duke and Duchess’s social circle, and the powerful cabal that controls the islands’ political and financial affairs, she uncovers evidence that beneath the glister of Wallis and Edward’s marriage lies an ugly—and even treasonous—reality. In fact, Windsor-era Nassau roils with spies, financial swindles, and racial tension, and in the middle of it all stands Benedict Thorpe: a scientist of charismatic charm and murky national loyalties. Inevitably, the willful and wounded Lulu falls in love.
July 19 ~ Thomas Mallon (Landfall) at Pawleys Plantation
Cited as “crisp and witty,” “juicy,” and “entertaining bitchy,” a new novel by Thomas Mallon is always a mouth-watering prospect for lovers of American politics. This one, set during the tumultuous middle of the George W. Bush years—amid the twin catastrophes of the Iraq insurgency and Hurricane Katrina—brings Thomas Mallon’s cavalcade of contemporary American politics, which began with Watergate and continued with Finale, to a vivid and emotional climax. The president at the novel’s center possesses a personality whose high-speed alternations between charm and petulance, resoluteness and self-pity, continually energize and mystify the panoply of characters around him. They include his acerbic, crafty mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush; his desperately correct and eager-to-please secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice; the gnomic and manipulative Donald Rumsfeld; foreign leaders from Tony Blair to Vladimir Putin; and the caustic one-woman chorus of Ann Richards, Bush’s predecessor as governor of Texas. A gallery of political and media figures, from the widowed Nancy Reagan to the philandering John Edwards to the brilliantly contrarian Christopher Hitchens, bring the novel and the era to life. The story is deepened and driven by a love affair between two West Texans, Ross Weatherall and Allison O’Connor, whose destinies have been affixed to Bush’s since they were teenagers in the 1970s. The true believer and the skeptic who end up exchanging ideological places in a romantic and political drama that unfolds in locations from New Orleans to Baghdad and during the parties, press conferences, and state funerals of Washington, D.C.
*July 26 ~ Leila Meacham (Dragonfly) at Debordieu Colony Clubhouse, Georgetown ($60, incl. book)
One of our very favorites, author of Roses, Tumbleweed, and Titans, returns with a triumph! At the height of WWII, five idealistic young Americans receive a mysterious letter from the OSS, asking them if they are willing to fight for their country. The men and women from very different backgrounds—a Texan athlete with German roots, an upper-crust son of a French mother and a wealthy businessman, a dirt-poor Midwestern fly fisherman, an orphaned fashion designer, and a ravishingly beautiful female fencer from Princeton—all answer the call of duty, but each for a secret reason of his or her own. They bond immediately, in a group code-named DRAGONFLY. Soon after their training, they are dropped behind enemy lines and take up their false identities, isolated from one another except for a secret drop-box, but in close contact with the powerful Nazi elite who have Paris under siege. Thus begins a dramatic and riveting cat-and-mouse game, as the young Americans seek to stay under the radar until a fatal misstep leads to the capture and the firing-squad execution of one of their team. But…is everything as it seems, or is this one more elaborate act of spycraft?
Tuesday, July 30 – Megan Miranda (The Last House Guest) at Kimbel’s, Wachesaw
From the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls, a suspenseful new novel about an idyllic town in Maine dealing with the suspicious death of one of their own—and her best “summer” friend, who is trying to uncover the truth…before fingers point her way. Littleport, Maine, has always felt like two separate towns: an ideal vacation enclave for the wealthy, whose summer homes line the coastline; and a simple harbor community for the year-round residents whose livelihoods rely on service to the visitors. Typically, fierce friendships never develop between a local and a summer girl—but that’s just what happens with visitor Sadie Loman and Littleport resident Avery Greer. Each summer for almost a decade, the girls are inseparable—until Sadie is found dead. While the police rule the death a suicide, Avery can’t help but feel there are those in the community, including a local detective and Sadie’s brother, Parker, who blame her. Someone knows more than they’re saying, and Avery is intent on clearing her name, before the facts get twisted against her.
Mostly Fridays, 11 AM-1 PM, $30*
Literary luncheons with exciting authors at area restaurants
The Moveable Feast is held at area restaurants throughout the year on Fridays, 11 AM-1 PM. On occasion, an author’s book tour schedule is accommodated with a mid-week Moveable Feast. For each feast, the chef prepares an exquisite menu, typically unavailable during the restaurant’s public hours. (Food allergies are accommodated with advance notice.) The presentation precedes the meal. Individuals, couples, friends, book clubs and other groups are assigned table seating. Each literary luncheon is followed by a book signing at Litchfield Books at 2 PM for those unable to participate in the feast. Each Feast is $30 with a $5 rebate when the featured book is purchased at the Moveable Feast, with some *exceptions when the book is included. For reservations, 843.235.9600 or visit ClassAtPawleys.com.