The Cottage on the Bay by Ruben D. Gonzales Moonshine Cove Publishing ISBN 9781945181290 Martha Stewart Thorpe, young war bride and then matriarch, lives through the changing times, lives, and family on a once thriving plantation. Along with her father and uncles who came over from Scotland, and Martha’s sisters, they struggle through the years after the Civil War. BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS - JOIN THE DISCUSSION Through the letters and journals of Martha, other family records, neighborhood gossip, and stark history, a distant relative of the farm family and narrator of the story, Violet Stewart, chronicles the saga of Scots Grove plantation and pieces together the story of Martha’s long life. The cottage on the bay, built on the outer edge of the plantation so the family could escape the oppressive heat of summer months, sits on a great sand dune on a barrier island along the North Carolina coast. Martha takes refuge in the cottage and watches the land, community, and her family change, grow, and pass, as she ages. Befriended by the former slaves of the plantation and fortified by family, Violet discovers her own roots as she uncovers the story of Martha. The results of her research does not prove kindly to Violet but it does arc in a full though unpredicted circle for Martha. Before she dies, Martha says to Violet, “Well, after everything, I hope it’s been enough.” |