"I was drunk that summer with a clear fiery joy because I'd found at 22 what I thought I'd lost forever at 9. That had been my last perfect summer until this one." With this prelude Seafair Bell begins her summer idyll. Invited by Miranda Muir, 19 and one of her music students, to be her guest on Drummond's Island, Seafair goes off with a song in her heart. In theory, Seafair is to give her pupil and friend some intensive piano coaching. In fact, Miranda's three older male cousins, plus an assortment of islanders who are old friends, provide more interesting diversions than the pianoforte from the moment the girls land. There are "digs" with Miranda's youngest cousin, Patrick Drummond, who is trying to find evidence of Norse occupation of the island; sailing, picnics; watching fishermen's nets being tarred in a great kettle which bubbles over a fire on the rocks; clam-digging, swimming, lobster feasts, dancing, and music with Seafair at the piano. But as summer heightens, the island fog begins to close around the Drummonds and the Finlays and to bring a darkness which the sun of the following morning does not lighten. It is apparent that Miranda is flirting with an island man only to keep Patrick from finding out who her real love is. Seafair, hopelessly in love with Patrick, realizes that his heart is set on Miranda. Neither the guest nor anyone else on Drummond's realizes that there is a man who is psychopathically jealous among them and that the golden summer will end in murder and madness.
Author
Elisabeth Ogilvie’s striking evocation of the atmosphere of the Maine seacoast that is the background of The Seasons Hereafter is no accident, for she lived in just such an area for many years, and her love for its people and their way of life has influenced all her novels. Her activities on Gay’s Island, where she spent most of the year, included writing, gardening, and “trying not to suspect that a bear is at the door, a moose lurking in among the alders, or a horned owl hovering overhead about to bear away the cat.” She contributed a considerable amount of writing of magazine fiction and children’s books, and is the author of several novels, including There May Be Heaven, The Witch Door, Rowan Head, The Dawning of the Day, Storm Tide, and one book of nonfiction, My World Is an Island.
