Familiar ground for the prolific Siddons (Up Island, 1997, etc.), though her latest saga of the South replaces gothic melodrama with well-honed emotion. Narrated by Caro, independent-minded but burdened by sorrow after the death of her daughter, the story begins with this melancholy motherŽs retreat to ``the island.'' Hugging the South Carolina coast, the small marsh isle is part of CaroŽs inheritance and heritage; staying in her grandfather's house, she goes to paint and ease her sadness. Amid evocative description of the island's lowlands, the sound of wild ponies, and visions of untouched woods, the plot takes shape: Caro's husband Clay, a successful land developer, has put his sights on her island, a prime piece of real estate. Unbeknownst to Caro, her husbandŽs empire is on the verge of financial ruin, and only a new housing development can save his existing ventures--everything they have built together in their long marriage. Moreover, the development of the island risks not only a natural habitat and Caro's solitude but also one of America's few intact Gullah communities, which Clay's company hopes to turn into a theme park. Having known the community her whole life, and appreciating the resilience and wisdom of ancient conjure woman Auntie Tuesday and other locals, Caro is ravaged by the idea of seeing them posing for tourist photographs. Poised to help save both Caro's island and Caro herself is Lou Cassells, a tropical botanist recently hired by Clay, but really a mole trying to preserve the island. With him is his orphaned granddaughter Lita, whose vibrant presence forces Caro to confront the ghost of her daughter. Gradually, Caro begins to wake from the resigned sleep she's been living in and fight for her land--which also means fighting against her much loved husband and son's future. A delicate, compelling tale, full of real feeling and lush description. A treat for Siddons fans. ($250,000 ad/promo; radio, TV & print satellite tour)

This is a genial, heartfelt yarn by a prolific, best-selling novelist who deserves her popularity. Siddons' latest novel features middle-aged Caroline Venable, a painter who spends too much time entertaining people associated with her husband Clay's land development business and a little too much time drinking to forget the accidental death of her daughter. But Caro has a good heart, and she loves the undeveloped barrier island off the South Carolina coast that was her special setting as a child. In fact, she owns the island--or believes she does. When she inadvertently learns that Clay has set in motion a plan to develop the island, her sense of betrayal runs deep. And what else Caro didn't know but soon finds out is that Clay's company is in dire straits--he faces losing, if not everything, at least a considerable portion of his holdings. But the wild horses on the island are what really concern Caro. What is to be their lot if their natural habitat is turned into a theme park? Caro takes a stand, and the result is ultimately a very moving tale of strength and truth arising from tragedy. --Brad Hooper

Fans will find some familiar elements here: a sympathetic Southern heroine, an unlikely love interest, and a South Carolina low country setting fragrant with salt air. Caro Venable is a captivating mix of beauty queen, drunk, artist, dutiful corporate wife, and mother still grieving her daughter's drowning. Her love of Peacock's Island clashes with her developer husband's plans to subdivide her grandfather's land and turn its native tribal settlement into a "theme park." Caro is also tempted by a wild, rebellious Cuban botanist who shares her love for the unspoiled island. The novel ends with a circle of completeness: a corrupt husband returning to his decent self, a wife returning to her husband's love, an orphaned child filling the void left by a girl's death, and the island saved from development. Readers of Siddons's other books (Up Island, HarperCollins, 1997) will not be disappointed. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/98.]‘Carol J. Bissett, Dittlinger Memorial Lib., New Braunfels, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A Siddons heroine of a familiar stripe, Caroline Aubrey Venable battles adversity and despair to save her South Carolina island in a somewhat unwieldy novel that again shows us a woman maturing under pressure. The death of her daughter five years earlier still shadows Caroline's life, and her occasional overindulgence in alcohol is something neither she nor her husband of 25 years will discussÄso long as Caroline continues dutifully to play "mother superior" to the junior partners of her husband Clay's land-developing empire. When rumor comes to light that Clay's company plans to turn their low country home into a theme parkÄthreatening the wild ponies that Caroline loves, not to mention the Gullahs who have lived there for centuriesÄCaroline is roused from her stupor. The leisurely pace and evocative atmospheric background of Siddons's fiction are in evidence here, and the confiding tone of this first-person narrative of betrayal and redemption offers few surprises. Some readers, however, may find Caroline annoyingly self-absorbed; may question why she doesn't object more strenuously when Luis CassellsÄone of the islandersÄcharacterizes Clay as "Mengele"; may find Siddons's depiction of Luis as a Cuban-Jewish Don Quixote improbable; may take umbrage at Caroline's patronization of the Gullahs; and may agree that the climax, while surprising, makes for a pat denouement. $250,000 ad/promo; U.K. rights to Little, Brown; first serial and dramatic rights: Virginia Barber; audio rights: HarperAudio; translation rights: HarperCollins; author tour. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved