Beatriz Williams came of age during the Cold War.
“It loomed very large,” the bestselling author said in a recent interview. “The end of the Cold War was one of the landmark moments in my life.”
Perhaps because of that, the Cold War has been central to several of her books, including her previous novel, “Our Woman in Moscow,” and her forthcoming one, “The Beach at Summerly,” which releases on June 27.
Set on fictional Winthrop Island off the New England coast (the same setting as “The Summer Wives,” Williams’ 2018 instant New York Times bestseller), the novel’s heroine is Emilia Winthrop, a descendant of the original English settlers on the island, though her family lands have long since been sold off, and her father is now the caretaker of Summerly, the wealthy Bostonian Peabody family’s seaside estate.
“She’s got these ties to the family, to the estate, to the island itself and also very personal ties to the two very attractive Peabody sons who have just returned from the Second World War,” Williams said.
Emilia is also drawn to Olive Rainsford, the widowed aunt of the Peabody sons, who arrives on the island at the start of the season with her children in tow. With an emotionally distant father and her mother incapacitated by a stroke, Emilia becomes entangled with the glamorous globetrotting Olive, who in turn takes an interest in Emilia, encouraging her to dream beyond the island.
“And of course, things turn out to be not as they seem,” Williams said.
In short order, Emilia is recruited by FBI agent Sumner Fox (a recurring character in “Our Woman in Moscow”) to help trap a Soviet spy who’s been transmitting vital secrets about the West’s atomic-weapons program from somewhere inside the Summerly estate.
The book moves back and forth between the arrival of the Peabodys on the island to eight years later, when Emilia is once again forced to confront the consequences of her actions that summer.
“What interests me is not so much all the cloak-and-dagger stuff — which, to me, is more choreography — but really how does this affect people on the individual level? What does it do to you psychologically? What if somebody you trust ends up betraying you?” Williams said.
Join Williams for a “Books Over Drinks” event 7:30 p.m. June 28 at M. Judson Booksellers in downtown Greenville. Tickets are $35 and include admission, a cocktail and a copy of the book. Visit mjudsonbooks.com/events for more information.
