In her second novel, American-Kiwi Erin Palmisano takes us to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The large estuary is famed for its terrific seafood, picturesque bays and historic waterfront towns and is a favourite weekend spot for Washingtonians. The story is set over one summer in the fictional small seaside town of Maiden’s Cove at the beginning of its Festival of Lights. It is centred on a family restaurant, Cleary’s Crab Shack, owned by the Cleary family for 75 years.
After the death of Tommy Cleary, who could never make the financial decisions necessary to keep the restaurant in the black, his daughter Grace has a mountain to climb when she returns from Phoenix, Arizona, with her 8-year-old daughter.
The death of her beloved father and the inheritance of the restaurant have given Grace the impetus to leave her controlling husband Richard who, unsettlingly, has not chased after his wife and daughter as she feared, even though he knows where they are. As she struggles to come up with ways to revive the restaurant’s fortunes, his next move is always at the back of her mind.
Fortunately, Grace and her daughter are surrounded by colourful characters who love Cleary’s as much as she does, and some of whom have known Grace and her brother Ben since they were tiny. While Grace feels the love of the community, the person she longs for most is her best friend Isla, whom she hasn’t seen for more than a decade. The people of Maiden’s Cove have always reckoned that Isla, who was adopted by a fisherman, might have really been a mermaid because of her affinity with the sea and ability to swim under water for long periods.
Maiden’s Cove is known for its bioluminescence, because of algae on the sand, which at night look like lights dotted across the bay. And when Isla makes a reappearance, it is heralded by these so-called lights. Back together again, Grace and Isla begin to rekindle their friendship. Meanwhile, Grace and her brother slowly reconnect, and Luke, Grace’s former high school crush, patiently waits for Grace to recognise his devotion. The author works in a nice New Zealand element, as Luke has recently returned from being a chef in New Zealand and waxes lyrical about his experiences.
And the food is a highlight in this sweet small-town romance. Palmisano, the author of another tale of food and love, The Secrets of the Little Greek Taverna, owns restaurants and is skilled at describing the mouthwatering seafood of the region.
There’s plenty of drama, with the author keeping the reader guessing. The inevitable tough restaurant reviewer makes their appearance, which could make or break the business, and of course the chill of Richard is always in the background. Palmisano creates a cast of well-drawn characters who all have their quirks and challenges, and explores the paths people take ‒ why some can’t get out of a small town fast enough and why others never want to leave.
The Secrets of Maiden’s Cove, by Erin Palmisano (Moa Press, $36.99), is out now.
