53 pages • 1 hour read
Mary Kay AndrewsA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of rape, child death, anti-gay bias, and death.
“She glimpsed the improbable pink turrets and crenelated towers rising up from the fog-shrouded marsh, like something out of one of her storybooks.”
This image captures the awe that Traci feels as a child when she first glimpses the Saint and sees it as a fairy-tale castle. Her perception of it as a nearly magical place will be greatly altered by the time she takes over running the place.
“[Charlie] had worked for the Eddings family all this time; he knew where all the bodies were buried. Literally. Like her, he’d grown up in the business. Traci knew he’d do whatever it took to keep the Saint afloat. Just as she would.”
The opening chapter establishes Traci’s main character goal, which is her investment in keeping the Saint a profitable business. She assumes that she has an ally in Charlie Burroughs, the general manager, though this turns out not to be the case. The hint at buried bodies foreshadows the later discovery that Charlie has been embezzling money from the Saint for some time.
“No. Absolutely not. You’re not going anywhere near that place, and you’re not going to work for that family. Ever. Do you hear me?”
Shannon’s level of distress when Livvy says she wants to work at the Saint establishes suspense; it is unclear why Shannon hates the place with such passion—one of the novel’s mysteries. Shannon’s attempt to keep Livvy away proves futile; Livvy not only proves to have a talent for hospitality but also inherits part ownership of the resort and becomes deeply involved in the business when her relationship with the Eddings family is revealed.
“Garrett was everyone’s favorite, both with the barnacle-encrusted regulars who’d been staying at the hotel for what seemed like centuries, and who appreciated that he always remembered their cocktail orders and their grandchildren’s names, but also the younger set, especially the women, because, with his mop of dark ringlets, twin dimples, deep brown eyes, and slender build, he was undeniably easy on the eyes.”
Garrett is introduced as a protagonist, someone who, like Traci and Charlie, is deeply invested in the running of the Saint and is part of its traditions. However, this is a sham: Garrett, like Charlie, is stealing from the hotel. Like the façade of the Saint that hides its many problems, Garrett looks appealing—especially to Madelyn—but he will turn out to be a chief antagonist in the novel.
“Why should this dreadful man still be alive, at his age, while Hoke, her first and only love, a truly decent man who had so much to give to the world…why should he be the one moldering in a grave? Where was the fairness in that?”
The Burden of Secrets and Grief is a quiet but prevalent theme throughout the novel. Traci’s efforts to continue the Eddings family legacy by running the hotel are in part a tribute to her husband, upholding the dreams and wishes that she made her own when she married him. Recovering from grief and falling in love again form part of Traci’s character arc throughout the novel.
“What he found inside the box—those little scraps of paper, a few baby pictures, and a notebook written in girlish handwriting, a kind of journal, he supposed you’d call it—that was the real reason he’d come to Saint Cecelia. It was time he found some answers.”
The introduction of Whelan—the last member of the large ensemble cast to appear—introduces the mystery plot of the book and adds suspense since the purpose of his investigation isn’t yet clear. Whelan’s quest is one of many ways the book examines the consequences of tragedy and the keeping of secrets.
“You can ask. I’ve been asking my whole life, but my mom refuses to tell me.”
Livvy does not know the identity of her father, a secret Shannon has never revealed. Discovering his identity plays a significant role in the events of the novel. The burden of secrets and grief when hidden from family and friends and the negative consequences this concealment brings are major themes throughout.
“Your little secret is safe with me. I don’t judge. But your folks might. And your granddaddy? I know the man. He’d definitely judge, and I’m thinking he wouldn’t like knowing his grandson and namesake was a sneaky little queer.”
KJ’s secret, which is his sexuality, makes him vulnerable to Marcie’s blackmail. Scared to be disowned and possibly cut off from family wealth, KJ doesn’t speak up about the crimes he has observed Marcie, Garrett, and Charlie committing. This intimidation is one example of the burdens that secrets impose on the characters.
“Do you think you’re the only one running an operation at my family’s hotel? I’ve got news for you, you’re not. I’ve been watching, and taking notes. And it’s all up here […] And in my little blue book.”
Parrish’s statement to Garrett at the after party serves as a red herring, suggesting that she was murdered because she discovered criminal activities at the hotel. While the murder turns out to be due to a different secret, Parrish’s “little blue book” becomes her way of communicating to the sleuths what she’s found.
“Traci waited, her heart pounding in her chest, for the news she’d been dreading all day. Parrish was gone. She hadn’t known how or why, but the same black cloud that had descended after Hoke’s plane went down was back.”
Parrish’s sudden death is a surprise to the reader, raising the stakes of the novel and implying the seriousness of whatever Parrish discovered going on at the hotel. In addition to losing her husband, Traci must now deal with the loss of her beloved niece, speaking to the novel’s theme of grief and its burdens, represented with the image of the cloud.
“This place is my husband’s legacy. It’s all I have left of him, so I guess I’m gonna suck it up and keep going. Because I don’t have any other choice.”
This passage captures Traci’s motivation and her commitment to upholding traditions and family legacy. She feels an obligation to the hotel because of how much her beloved husband valued it. Here, Traci brings Livvy in to take over Parrish’s guest relations position, unknowingly integrating Livvy into what will become her role in the legacy and the hotel.
“Folks see all these big houses over here, lining the waterfront, they see the rich kids in town, raisin’ hell and acting the fool, and it pisses ’em off.”
Traci’s lawyer makes Traci consider the difference between the Saints and Ain’ts—the haves and have nots—a tension that informs the novel as characters navigate these two seemingly different worlds.
“This place […] is a snake pit. You can change the way it looks on the outside, but it’s just like it was when we were kids. Rich assholes parading around their privilege like it’s a badge. I don’t want Livvy exposed to people…like all of y’all.”
Shannon’s accusation about the Saint reflects her hurt over Fred Eddings’s sexual assault and hints at the larger problem of how the Saints behave toward the Aint’s. The dismissive attitude of the novel’s privileged class is also reflected in the characters of Ric Eddings and Colonel McBee, who exemplify the entitlement and lack of regard held by powerful men toward those they see as beneath them.
“Why now? It was more than twenty years ago. Answers won’t bring back that little boy and they won’t bring back your mother.”
Traci suggests to Whelan that his investigation into Hudson’s long-ago death isn’t worthwhile and that he may be better off accepting the past and moving on. While this is Traci’s philosophy, it works against the novel’s theme about secrets and the power of getting answers or restitution for an old wrong.
“[Fred’s] gaze was fixed on the family portrait gallery in front of him as Sinatra crooned about girls in summer dresses and broken hearts and flying to the moon.”
Traci is the only family member who is with Fred as he dies, indicating that she is the Eddings who holds the family together. She sets out the family portraits as if understanding that Fred will want his last sight to be of his family, which he finally understands is more important than wealth. The music of Frank Sinatra, which would have been popular when Fred was in his prime, adds a feeling of nostalgia and sadness to the scene.
“Her instincts had been sound. Livvy was smiling, patient, flexible. She was everything Traci could want in a front-facing position at the Saint.”
As Traci becomes dismayed by the investigation of operations at the Saint, she is consoled by Livvy’s talent for guest relations. Livvy’s ability shows that she is a worthy replacement for Parrish, her counterpart, signaling Livvy’s fitness for the role of heir.
“He could be skimming all kinds of ways. Kickbacks for vendors, bribes, embezzlement. Maybe he’s cooking the books.”
Though an amateur sleuth, Livvy, with the help of Felice and Parrish’s notebook, figures out that longtime general manager Charlie is stealing money from the hotel. His theft shows a dark side to the burden of legacy: Charlie has been characterizing relationships with vendors as tradition to hide the fact that these relationships allow him to embezzle money and get kickbacks.
“What do you think I’ve been doing since the day Hoke died? I’ve not only protected the Saint’s legacy, I’ve enhanced it.”
Ric’s efforts at preserving what he thinks of as the family legacy run counter to Traci’s efforts to preserve the hotel—Hoke’s legacy. While Traci wants to protect the reputation of the family, Ric’s goal is self-enrichment. The bitter irony about Parrish’s death is that Ric and Madelyn’s greed led them to inadvertently kill Parrish, the promising young woman who ought to have been Ric’s real legacy.
“I’m happy […] It’s crazy. My professional life is cratering, I might lose my hotel, but right now, in this moment, I feel happy.”
Traci’s grief at losing Parrish must take a back seat when she is distracted by Ric’s threats and her attraction to Whelan. Overcoming her losses and struggles over the hotel to enjoy happiness with Whelan constitutes her happy ending, as befits this novel’s beach read genre.
“There actually is another heir. Someone neither Ric nor this lawyer knew existed.”
The revelation that the Eddings have “another heir” is the bombshell that sets off the final climactic action and starts unraveling the mystery of Parrish’s death. Ric’s greedy move to expand his inheritance to surviving heirs only backfires: He now has to share the estate with Livvy, Fred’s biological daughter resulting from his rape of Shannon.
“People—and it’s mostly the ones who’ve never had any—they say money can’t buy happiness. But you know what it can buy? Choices. The choice to be who and what you want.”
The line between the Saints and the Ain’ts is based on socioeconomic class, which boils down to money. Livvy, upon learning her parentage—the consequence of Fred’s greed and betrayal—goes from an Ain’t to, if she wishes, a Saint. Shannon frames this as an opportunity, despite her reluctance to be involved with the Eddings family.
“Soon, she promised herself, she would jettison all this emotional and physical baggage. She would live the way she wanted. It was time. Past time.”
As she regards the décor in the house that Hoke inherited from his parents, Traci realizes that she kept Helen’s things initially as a way to be accepted into the family and then because it was a connection to Hoke. Deciding to get rid of the family heirlooms helps Traci break with tradition and choose her own future.
“[Traci] gasped and felt physically ill when she saw the burnt-out wreckage of the former golf cart barn. The concrete-block walls were smoke-blackened, but still standing, and the roof had caved in. It was a miracle that Felice and Livvy had escaped death.”
The fire, an attempt to murder Livvy and Felice, proves how far the criminals stealing from the Saint will go to protect their guilty secret. This means that Livvy was the target of both of the novel’s murder plots: Parrish’s death was also a failed attempt on Livvy’s life. The ruined golf cart barn, symbolic of Traci’s hopes for rebuilding the Saint, represents the darkness hiding beneath the Saint’s seemingly successful exterior.
“You, of all people, should know tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, to any of us. […] Why should we wait? Why should we have regrets?”
Whelan argues that he and Traci should have sex as a way to seize the day. His philosophy speaks to Traci’s attempts to break out of the tangle of tradition, guilt, and secrets that have been her inheritance at the Saint so far. He reminds her to try to live without regrets, an optimistic note that balances the tragedy and threat of the climactic chapters.
“You were right. I do want more. I deserve more. And I don’t want to waste any more time thinking about the what-ifs.”
After the mystery plot is resolved and the criminals are all apprehended, Traci decides to free herself from the burden of the past and live her own life, which includes Whelan. Her newfound freedom and love, the restored fortunes of the Saint, and Livvy’s success provide a happy ending to the novel.
Challenging Authority
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Class
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Class
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Daughters & Sons
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Earth Day
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Family
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Grief
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Loyalty & Betrayal
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Memory
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Power
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Revenge
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Romance
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Valentine's Day Reads: The Theme of Love
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