The once-scenic Dutch elm-lined main streets of the Hamptons serve as both a reminder of a more genteel time and an omen of things to come in Henderson's keenly observed and skillfully structured historical novel. The dark cloud on the horizon is the Great New England Hurricane, which will devastate the islands on September 21, 1938. The story opens on that ominous morning, then jumps back to June, when wealthy Manhattanites decamp to their summer homes and the locals grudgingly welcome their primary source of income. As Henderson subtly and cleverly ratchets up the suspense, she presents a richly textured exploration of class and society filtered through the lenses of several characters whose lives are thrown off course.

This psychologically astute tale calls to mind Auden's famous words, "As the clever hopes expire / Of a low dishonest decade / Waves of anger and fear / Circulate over the bright / And darkened lands of the earth, / Obsessing our private lives; / The unmentionable odour of death / Offends the September night." For readers of Richard Russo and Elizabeth Strout.