This book was well written but I had a difficult time relating to the characters and the sailing terms. Many times I was impatient with the self indulgent, spoiled characters. Ms. Dermont is a good writer and her "male" perspective was very interesting. The prep school genre has been done and I wonder how do these young people survive emotionally? Although I have a serious fear of water the sailing references were lovely. I liked the book but didn't love it. Also, I am not sure my book club would like it.

In my opinion this was definitely a "beach book." I enjoyed the historical aspect of Dorothy and DuBose Heyward - I will research more about them. I liked the low country setting although I have read other authors that I Iiked more such as Anne Rivers Siddons. The Cate and John relationship was too quick to be real in my opinion and the dialogue between them toward the end was rather high schoolish. As I said it is a nice beach read.