
About the Book:
Ten years after their college days together, three wounded and very different women reunite for a summer on the island of Martha's Vineyard. As the come to grips with the challenges and crises in their lives, their encounter with a reclusive poacher known only as "the fisherman" threatens to change everything they believe about their world--and each other.
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE |
Review:
Three college friends reunite on Martha's Vineyard for the summer. Expecting a care-free summer, the reunion is really anything but. Dory, who lives on the Vineyard and come from old money. Bearing the name Delano, Dory defies many of the standards for a woman in her position, including being unmarried at age 32. Charlotte arrives at the island with an immense amount of grief. With the ashes of her dead daughter in tow, Charlotte does not plan to visit for long; but has plans of walking out into the ocean and never coming back. Turner is running from some bad decisions made on her blog, hoping a much older man with her home address won't be able to stalk her. Each of these women has a life-changing encounter with a mysterious man on the island known only as the fisherman. Outside the law, the fisherman sells mouth-watering jumbo shrimp out of the back of his truck. The fisherman also seems to have a sixth sense for knowing certain things about people.
The Vineyard was a very surprising read for me, not at all what I was expecting. Each of the women's characters were very in-depth and unique. First introduced is Charlotte. I was not very sure that I was going to like her, quite literally drowning in grief at the death of her young daughter and the Church's refusal to bury her unbaptized remains in consecrated ground, Charlotte makes the decision that if her daughter will not be going to heaven, than neither will she. Charlotte's actions soon after this quickly change my views of her, also the scene of her attempted suicide is very well written and seems honest to the experience. Dory seems very carefree at first, but after her encounter with the fisherman and a grim diagnosis, things seem to change. Turner is a very strange character, often making decisions that seem out of place, however, she uses her friends experiences with the fisherman as stories on her blog and that decision brings around more strange events. The fisherman himself is an enigma, I was wrapped up in solving the mystery around him. Without giving too much away, this was a unique story with excellent characters that went on unexpected routes.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Michael Hurley and his wife Susan live near Charleston, South Carolina. Born and raised in Baltimore, Michael holds a degree in English fromthe University of Maryland and law from St. Louis University.
The Prodigal, Michael’s debut novel from Ragbagger Press, received the Somerset Prize for mainstream fiction and numerous accolades inthe trade press, including Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, ForeWord Reviews, BookTrib, Chanticleer Reviews, and IndieReader. It is currently in development for a feature film by producer Diane Sillan Isaacs. Michael’s second novel, The Vineyard, is due to be released by Ragbagger Press in December 2014.
Michael’s first book, Letters from the Woods, is a collection of wilderness-themed essays published by Ragbagger Press in 2005. It was shortlisted for Book of the Year by ForeWord magazine. In 2009, Michael embarked on a two-year, 2,200 mile solo sailing voyage that ended with the loss of his 32-foot sloop, the Gypsy Moon, in the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti in 2012. That voyage and theexperiences that inspired him to set sail became the subject of his memoir, Once Upon A Gypsy Moon, published in 2013 by Hachette Book Group.
When he is not writing, Michael enjoys reading and relaxing with Susan on the porch of their rambling, one-hundred-year-old house. His fondest pastimes are ocean sailing, playing piano and classical guitar, cooking, and keeping up with an energetic Irish terrier, Frodo Baggins.
WEBSITE: http://www.mchurley.com/
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5445584.Michael_C_Hurley
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/mchurleybooks