The Beach Walkers

A story of mothers and daughters, of kinship lost and friendship found on an island in northeast Florida, Can walking the beach heal the heart? At her beachfront home on Amelia Island, Elspeth Cleary is devastated when Jess, a daughter she adores, refuses her gifts. She sends her back to New York—to the delight of two older daughters summoned on family business. A wealthy, weary, lonely widow, Elspeth hoped to spend months with each of them. She couldn't ask of course; they might say no. What was she thinking in trying to bribe them?Frannie had warned her not to expect gratitude for sharing her wealth, or to hope that her daughters would help fill her days. Frannie Dawson is the energetic woman Elspeth met on the beach. Frannie was right. The eldest daughters take their gifts and flee, leaving her alone, even at Christmas. When grief and a diagnosis of breast cancer bring her to the edge, she tells only Frannie, her new beach friend and a retired teacher of Shakespeare. Can Frannie help this modern Queen Lear? She draws Elspeth into a group of beach walkers; a group that includes women who tell her she's not alone in her woes with adult children. The gentle women of the walking group share their stories and their unique celebrations. They support her through cancer treatment. For the first time in years, she has a sense of belonging. But does mending a heart take more than a walk on a beach?

Barbara Bond is an award-winning journalist who has published in the U.S., the U.K. and Canadian under the by-line Barbara Robson. A native of Wakefield, Quebec, she's a snowbird who winters on Amelia Island where she walks the beach.