Cocoa Beach: A Novel - Softcover

Williams, Beatriz

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062670794 ISBN 13: 9780062670793

Publisher: Harper Large Print, 2017

Synopsis

The New York Times bestselling author of A Certain Age transports readers to sunny Florida in this lush and enthralling historical novel—an enchanting blend of love, suspense, betrayal, and redemption set among the rumrunners and scoundrels of Prohibition-era Cocoa Beach.

Burdened by a dark family secret, Virginia Fortescue flees her oppressive home in New York City for the battlefields of World War I France. While an ambulance driver for the Red Cross, she meets a charismatic British army surgeon whose persistent charm opens her heart to the possibility of love. As the war rages, Virginia falls into a passionate affair with the dashing Captain Simon Fitzwilliam, only to discover that his past has its own dark secrets—secrets that will damage their eventual marriage and propel her back across the Atlantic to the sister and father she left behind.

Five years later, in the early days of Prohibition, the newly widowed Virginia Fitzwilliam arrives in the tropical boomtown of Cocoa Beach, Florida, to settle her husband’s estate. Despite the evidence, Virginia does not believe Simon perished in the fire that destroyed the seaside home he built for her and their young daughter. Separated from her husband since the early days of their marriage, the headstrong Virginia plans to uncover the truth, for the sake of the daughter Simon never met.

Simon’s brother and sister welcome her with open arms and introduce her to a dazzling new world of citrus groves, white beaches, bootleggers, and Prohibition agents. But Virginia senses a predatory presence lurking beneath the irresistible, hedonistic surface of this coastal oasis. The more she learns about Simon and his mysterious business interests, the more she fears that the dangers that surrounded Simon now threaten her and their daughter’s life as well.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

France, 1917. Burdened by a dark family secret, Virginia Fortescue joins the Red Cross as an ambulance driver on the battlefields of the Western Front, where she meets a charismatic British army surgeon who wins her heart. But Captain Simon Fitzwilliam’s past has its own secrets, and as the war ends, Virginia leaves their marriage and returns to New York, heartbroken and pregnant.

Florida, 1922. Newly widowed, Virginia arrives in the tropical boomtown of Cocoa Beach to settle her estranged husband’s estate, and discovers a dazzling world of citrus groves, white beaches, and rumrunners. But Virginia senses a predatory presence beneath the surface of this oasis. The more she learns about Simon’s life, the more she fears that the dangers that led to his death may now threaten her life, and their daughter’s as well . . .

About the Author:

A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA from Columbia, Beatriz Williams spent several years in New York and London hiding her early attempts at fiction, first on company laptops as a communications strategy consultant, and then as an at-home producer of small persons, before her career as a writer took off. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Large Print
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0062670794
• ISBN 13: 9780062670793
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 608