In alternating chapters telling of her life in the 1960s on Sullivan's Island and in downtown Charleston in the 1990s, Susan Hayes deals with her incredible island family, her job at the Charleston County Library, and her life as a single mother.

In a novel set on the stormy, sultry coastal region of South Carolina, a woman with an unfaithful husband, resentful teenage daughter, and dark memories of the past embarks on a courageous search for the truth about her life.

In alternating chapters telling of her life in the 1960s on Sullivan's Island and in downtown Charleston in the 1990s, Susan Hayes deals with her incredible island family, her job at the Charleston County Library, and her life as a single mother.

"Newly graduated from college, aspiring writer Beth Hayes is elected by her family to house-sit the Island Gamble. Buoyed by sentimental memories of growing up on this tiny sandbar seemingly untouched by time, Beth vows to give herself over to the Lowcountry force and discover the wisdom it holds. Just as she vows she will never give into the delusional world of white picket fences, minivans, and eternal love, she meets Max Mitchell. All her convictions and plans begin to unravel with lightning speed. There is so much about life and her family's past that she does not know. Her ignorance and naiveté nearly cost her both her inheritance and her family's respect, but Beth finds unexpected friends to help her through the disaster she faces. If everything happens for a reason, then Beth's return to Sullivans Island teaches her that betrayal and tragedy are most easily handled when you surround yourself with loyal family and friends in a magical place that loves you so much it wants to claim you as its own" -- Container.

Newly graduated from college and an aspiring writer, Beth Hayes craves independence and has a world to conquer. But her notions of travel, graduate study, and writing the great American novel will have to be postponed--with her mother leaving to fulfill her own dreams in Paris and her Aunt Maggie, Uncle Grant, and stepfather Simon moving to California, Beth is elected by her elders to house-sit the Island Gamble. Buoyed by sentimental memories of growing up on this tiny sandbar that seems to be untouched by time, Beth vows to give herself over to the Lowcountry force and discover the wisdom it holds; to rest, rejuvenate, and then reenter the outside world. Then she meets Max Mitchell, and all her convictions and plans begin to unravel with lightning speed.--From publisher description.

Newly graduated from college and an aspiring writer, Beth Hayes craves independence and has a world to conquer. But notions of travel, graduate study, and writing the great American novel will have to be postponed. Beth is elected by her elders to house-sit the Island Gamble. Surrounded by the shimmering blue waters of the Atlantic, the white clapboards, silver tin roof, and confessional porch have seen and heard generations of Hamiltons. But will ghosts of the Island Gamble be watching over Beth?--From publisher description.

23-year-old Beth Hayes returns to her family's ancestral home on South Carolina's Sullivans Island. It seems like only yesterday that she and her flock of cousins were chasing fireflies in the glowing dusk and flying kites on the beach--under her late father's watchful eye. But after the family gathers, her mother and aunt will vacation abroad, leaving Beth behind with the house and all its memories.