Anyone growing up in a coastal town can relate to walking on the beach with that special person, picking up shells and sitting on the dunes watching the waves move gently in and out.

All your troubles seem to melt away and you feel refreshed. I was absolutely enchanted by Mary Alice Monroe’s “The Beach House.”

It is written lovingly, though it hits on a lot of sensitive feelings, misunderstandings, and misconceptions. One seldom finds a book that is so engrossing, so heart-wrenching, so beautifully crafted that it will be read and re-read.

Such is this book.

Mary Alice Monroe

lives with her family on a barrier island outside Charleston.

She is an active conservationist and serves on the Board of the South Carolina Aquarium. She found her true calling in environmental fiction when she moved to a barrier island. The beauty and fragility of her new home captivated her.

Her experiences living in the midst of a habitat that was quickly changing gave her a strong and important focus for her novels.

She writes richly textured books delving into the complexities of interpersonal relationships and the parallels between the land and life.

Known for her moving characters so believable the reader can almost hear their breathing and emotional honesty, Mary Alice Monroe brings readers a beautifully rendered story that explores the fragile yet enduring bond between mothers, daughters and sons.

Caretta Rutledge left Charleston and the Low Country behind when she was 18. Now 40, Carletta has a high powered marketing job in Chicago, but her life is spinning out of control.

She gets an unusual request from her mother to spend the summer at her mother’s beloved cottage on the Isle of Palms. Carletta grudgingly returns to the scenic Low Country of her childhood summers.

She finds many family secrets and twists and turns along her journey as she and her family struggle to truly find one another. Mother, daughter and son must relive some of their childhood memories before they can move forward.

Caretta has long resented her mother, who focused her maternal efforts looking after the annual loggerhead turtle spawn than protecting herself and her children from their abusive father.

This poignant read won’t disappoint fans of so-called “Southern Fiction.”

The South representing the poisons and tonics of life is eloquently portrayed here, and its healing properties inevitably come to the fore.

Just enough information about the loggerhead turtles and their spawning cycle opens each chapter, swiftly engaging the reader from the beginning, and all of the integral characters are richly developed.

In the process of healing strained family bonds, Caretta reconnects with a old friend and finds love in the arms of local boat owner and naturalist.

Why did her mother want her daughter to return home to the Low Country?

What does the son have to tell his mother?

Will Caretta stay in the Low Country or return to Chicago?

Will the beloved beach house be sold?

Read the book. You won’t be able to put it down.

Writer Linda Sauls is Sales Manager for the Chronicle and Lake Murray Fish Wrapper.