Isle of Palms novels

Known for her moving characters and emotional honesty, Mary Alice Monroe brings readers a beautifully rendered story that explores the fragile yet enduring bond between mothers and daughters. Caretta Rutledge thought she'd left her Southern roots and troubled family far behind. But an unusual request from her mother--coming just as her own life is spinning out of control--has Cara heading back to the scenic Lowcountry of her childhood summers. Before...

In this tale that explores the themes of class, women's rights and domestic abuse in the 1970s American South, the author returns to her classic Southern setting in the Isle of Palms with the sequel to her novel The Beach House. She weaves together issues of class, women's rights, and domestic abuse set in the tumultuous South during the 1970s as she tells the story of Olivia, "Lovie" Rutledge, the mother from The Beach House. As Lovie sits on the...

"Cara Rutledge returns to her Southern home on the idyllic Isle of Palms. Everything is comfortingly the same, yet each detail is rife with painful memories. Only through reconnecting with family, friends, and the rhythms of the lowcountry can Cara release the hold of the past and open herself to the possibility of a new love, career, and hope for the future. Meanwhile, her niece Linnea, a recent college graduate who doesn't know where her life will...

"The coming of Spring usually means renewal, but for Linnea Rutledge, Spring 2020 threatens stagnation. Linnea faces another layoff, this time from the aquarium she adores. For her - and her family - finances, emotions, and health teeter at the brink. To complicate matters, her new love interest, Gordon, struggles to return to the Isle of Palms from England. Meanwhile, her old flame, John, turns up from California and is quarantining next door. She...