In the summer of 1951, Miranda Schuyler arrives on elite, secretive Winthrop Island as a schoolgirl from the margins of high society, still reeling from the loss of her father in the Second World War. When her beautiful mother marries Hugh Fisher, whose summer house on Winthrop overlooks the famous lighthouse, Miranda is catapulted into a heady new world of pedigrees and cocktails, status and swimming pools. Isobel Fisher, Miranda's new stepsister...

For most of his life Dominick Birdsey has been living in the shadow of his schizophrenic identical twin, Thomas, but when Thomas commits a violent act that affects both their lives, Dominick decides to leave his home and search for his true identity.

"In a small New England town over half a century ago, a boy is playing with his new toy soldiers in the dirt in front of his house when a shadow falls over him. He looks up to see a striking man, the new minister, Jamie learns later, who with his beautiful wife, will transform the church and the town. The men and boys are a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls, with the Reverend Jacobs--including Jamie's sisters and mother. Then tragedy...

Flora worries about her first Thanksgiving without her parents, while Ruby worries about getting a part in the school musical, and their new friends, Olivia and Nikki, are adjusting to big changes in their families.

"In this stirring new novel, acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels delves into the remarkable ways in which moments of crises can lead to our greatest acts of courage . . . When Carol Ann "CJ" Jansen lost her beloved older brother, Kick, in a boating accident, she came adrift. Kick had taken on the role of caring for his little sister after their parents were killed in a car crash. Inheriting half his fortune has left CJ financially...