Merham is a well-ordered 1950s seaside town: the kind of town in which everyone knows their place (and those who don't are promptly put in it). Lottie Swift, an evacuee who has grown up with the respectable Holden family, loves Merham, while the Holdens' daughter Celia chafes against the constraints of the town.
When a group of bohemians takes over Arcadia, a stark Art Deco house on the seafront, the girls are as drawn to its temptations as Merham's citizens are appalled by them. They set in place a chain of events both within the Holden family and Merham itself which will have longstanding and tragic consequences for all concerned.
Now, almost fifty years on, Arcadia is returning to life, and its inhabitants stirring up strong feelings again. And prompting more than one person to look into their own romantic history and ask: Can you ever leave your past behind?
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
The book opens in the 1950s with Lottie, an evacuee who's staying with the respectable Holden family and their daughter Celia, where "noise and suppressed hysteria" are the norm. Their small town ways are dramatically disrupted when Arcadia, the Art Deco house overlooking the sea, is taken over by a fast and Bohemian set where "nude painting and uncertain domestic situations" are the order of the day. Adeline, the Queen Bee in the set-up, declares that Lottie needs "to learn to dream". Good advice, except that her dream comes in the shape of Guy, the handsome son of a melon and banana importer. Lottie is instantly smitten, but Guy is engaged to Celia. Forbidden fruit, indeed.
Fast forward to the present and the perils of Daisy Parker. She's has been abandoned by her partner, is the new mother of a little baby, and has taken on the all-consuming project of renovating Arcadia for a businessman called Jones. The owner of the "ocean liner" house, has, up until recently been Lottie Swift. In a series of emotionally rewarding and devastating encounters secrets from the past and present are tantalisingly revealed. --Eithne Farry
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Book Description Hardback. Condition: Fair. A readable copy of the book which may include some defects such as highlighting and notes. Cover and pages may be creased and show discolouration. Seller Inventory # GOR013260013
Book Description Condition: Good. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. A tan to the pages. Ex library copy with usual stamps & stickers. Seller Inventory # wbb0024839943