Review by Booklist Review
Willy May's post-divorce, sail-the-globe voyage of self-discovery fetches her up on the Caribbean island of Mustique, home to expats, ex-wives, and exotic travelers of all stripes. It's the early 1970s, and it's perfectly acceptable to name-drop visiting royalty, whether rock (Mick Jagger) or Windsor (Princess Margaret). For Willy May, Mustique is as far as one could possibly get from her birthplace of Nowheresville, Texas, and her former marital royal-adjacent carriage house. As she puts down roots and puts up a new home, Willy May reluctantly gets roped into the rich-and-famous lifestyle of the island's founding family and finds herself longing for the grounding influences of her adult daughters, aspiring model Hilly and college music major Joanne. When Hilly's career screeches to a halt in Paris, she slinks off to Mustique and mum, only to have an ensuing breakdown that draws Joanne to her bedside. Though sun-drenched and frequently frothy, McCoy's (Marilla of Green Gables, 2018) underlying tale of women-in-crisis who claw their way back to strength carries sobering messages about the importance of family loyalty and resiliency.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Perched in the southern Caribbean and owned by oddball British playboy Colin Tennant, Mustique Island is designed as a hideaway for rich, privileged folks. It's 1972, and divorcée Willy May Michael--a former Texas beauty queen--builds a house there, not so far from Princess Margaret. When she invites her adult daughters, they discover that Mustique isn't all sun, fun, and glorious white sand. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
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