READERS GUIDE

Questions and Topics for Discussion

INTRODUCTION

Caroline Wimbley Levine always swore she’d never go home again. But now, at her brother’s behest, she has returned to South Carolina to see about Mother—only to find that the years have not changed the Queen of Tall Pines Plantation. Miss Lavinia is as maddeningly eccentric as ever—and absolutely will not suffer the questionable advice of her children. This does not surprise Caroline. Nor does the fact that Tall Pines is still brimming with scandals and secrets, betrayals and lies. But she soon discovers that something is different this time around. It lies somewhere in the distance between her and her mother-and in her understanding of what it means to come home…

The sands of Sullivan’s Island follow me everywhere. No matter where I have traveled, worked or lived, I am only and always a woman whose home place is the beach. Growing up there gave me lots of time to dream – to dream of what my life would become. And writing this book gave me lots of time to remember. One of my happiest summer memories – besides digging holes to China and sliding down the hill fort – is of the Bookmobile. This old clanker of a bus/van would stop in front of my momma’s house and I would run for my fortnightly dose of juvenile literature. Three books under my arm, I’d dive into our hammock and finish them all in one day without moving. Then I’d have to wait thirteen days until the Bookmobile returned. Waiting became a theme in my life – waiting for more books, waiting to be old enough to do this or that, for life to give me permission to pursue my dreams, for a million things. I’ll probably never develop the virtue of patience, so waiting is my cross. It should be the worst thing I have ever had to bear.

Unlike my sister Lynn, I was a terrible student. Around my twelfth year, I stopped studying in school. I was the classic case of wanting to be cool, the Saving Ophelia Syndrome, rebelling against everything and a whole long list of pathetic excuses. I only reveal this now to let you know that where you start seldom has anything to do with where you land. Life is not like the trajectory of a bullet. I never stopped reading and I never stopped working. Both of these I do with frightening vigor. I managed to graduate from a fashion school on sheer luck and worked on Seventh Avenue for years. I took what skills I had used there into the world of volunteerism for a few more years, raising money for the arts and education.

That vigor is the thirst I could never quench, and the harsh realities of the business world and volunteer fundraising made me understand just how critical a complete education is. But love of words (and my compulsion to be understood) is what made this miracle of becoming a published author come true. So now I’d like to do something for other women who for whatever reason didn’t get the educational experience they longed for and who can’t find the courage to change their lives. And, needless to say, I’d like to do something for women and children without hope, who don’t dream. Please take a moment to visit the Foundation link and share your thoughts.

So what else? I am ecstatically happy with my delicious husband Peter, and adore my two children, Victoria and William down to their last freckles. I have two Cavalier King Charles spaniels, Henry and Buster who are as cute as cookies. I play awful tennis, cheat at cards to make my children laugh, speak emergency French and Italian – lots of gesturing, love to cook and entertain. I also garden like mad, still love to visit Sullivan’s Island as often as possible, and am always looking for an adventure. I still read like a lunatic – favorite authors are the ones I shamelessly tortured to give me endorsements for my book – John Berendt, Pat Conroy, Bret Lott, Fern Michaels, and Ann Rivers Siddons. I’m always on a diet and admit to being slightly neurotic. If I could have anything in the world, it would be to pick up my entire life and drop it on the beach at Sullivan’s Island. Writing is the next best thing.