The Captain's Daughter

Book excerpt: From the acclaimed author of Vacationland comes an emotionally gripping novel about a woman who returns to her hometown in coastal Maine and finds herself pondering the age-old question of what could have been. • “Emotionally gripping.... Filled with humor, insight, summer cocktails, and gorgeous sunsets...An ideal summer read.” —Redbook When Eliza Barnes was growing up in the lobstering village of Little Harbor, Maine, she could haul a trap and row a skiff with the best of them—but she’d always known she’d leave that life behind. Now she’s settled in the high-society circle of an affluent Massachusetts town with her husband and two daughters. But when her father—a widowed lobsterman—injures himself in a boating accident, Eliza returns to her hometown to come to his aid. When she arrives in Maine, she discovers her father’s situation is more dire than he let on. Her homecoming is further complicated by the reemergence of her first love—and the repercussions of their shared secret. Then Eliza meets Mary Brown, a seventeen-year-old local who is at a crossroad of her own, and Eliza can’t help but wonder what her life would have been like if she'd stayed. By turns poignant, incisive, and laugh-out-loud funny, The Captain’s Daughter is an unforgettable novel about the choices we make and the consequences we face in their wake.