The Summer Girls (44 page)

Dora and Harper remained at the end of the driveway waving for several moments. Then they linked arms and began walking together toward the beach.

“My, my, my,” Mamaw muttered at the sight. That was a first for those two. She looked beyond to the sparkling blue ocean. The waves rolled in and out in their metronome
rhythm. Maybe Lucille was right, she thought, though she’d never admit it to her. Life really was just a game of cards.

Mamaw turned to Lucille. “Time to get out of this sun. Are you up for a game of gin? I’ll spot you twenty points.”

Lucille harrumphed. “The day I need you to spot me is the day I take up checkers.”

Mamaw laughed, feeling suddenly buoyed with hope. She grasped the stair railing, but before leaving the porch she paused, lifted her gaze, and took one final, sweeping look toward the sea. The blue Cadillac was nowhere to be seen, but in the distance she caught sight of the two women making their way together down the long, winding path.

T
he world of dolphins is fascinating and complex and I owe a debt of thanks to many people for sharing their knowledge and expertise, and for enlightening me about these intelligent and charismatic creatures.

I owe a huge debt of thanks to Dr. Pat Fair, Director, Marine Mammal Program, NOAA, for serving as my mentor, friend, and editor for all things
Tursiops truncatus
. Also, my appreciation to Eric Zolman of NOAA for memories on the Zodiac. And to Justin Greenman and Wayne McFee.

My sincere gratitude goes to all the dedicated staff at the Dolphin Research Center, Grassy Key, Florida, for an education of the mind and spirit. Special thanks to Linda Erb, Joan Mehew, Becky Rhodes, Mary Stella, Rita Erwin, and Kirsten Donald for answering my countless questions, and providing keen insights, for your support, and for dolphin experiences I’ll cherish forever. And to all my fellow
volunteers—Sarah, Candace, Stacy, Nate, Lindsey, Ryan, Alice, Marissa, June, Clare, Arielle, Abby, Jeanette, Donna, Abby, Debbie, Viv, and Misty—who helped me go through the paces of animal care. A big hug and thanks to Joel Martino, who made my stay at Port Kaya note perfect.

A special thank-you to Stephen McCulloch, Harbor Branch, Florida Atlantic University—your expertise and imagination are amazing and inspiring. Sincere thanks to Lynne Byrd, Randall Wells, and Hayley Rutger of Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, to Shelley Dearhart at the South Carolina Aquarium, and to Ron Hardy of Gulf World for all their help and advice during the writing of this book.

As always, heartfelt thanks to the fabulous team at Gallery Books for continued support. I’m blessed to have the talent and great heart of my editors, Lauren McKenna and Alexandra Lewis; my publisher, Louise Burke; and in publicity, Jean Anne Rose.

I send my deep appreciation to my agents Kimberly Whalen and Robert Gottlieb and all the team at Trident Media Group, and to Joe Veltre at Gersh, for wise advice and guidance.

On the home front, my continued love and thanks to Marguerite Martino, James Cryns, and Margaretta Kruesi for all your critiques, brainstorming, and support. And to my team: Angela May, Buzzy Porter, Kathie Bennett, Lisa Laing, and Lisa Minnick.

Finally, to Markus—let me count the ways.

Dear Reader,

Dolphins are beloved around the world. From the dawn of history stories have been told about the intelligence, beauty—that deceptive smile!—and curiosity of dolphins and their enduring connection with humans.

Yet, despite our love for dolphins, mankind is their greatest threat. Hazards include injury and mortality from fishing gear, such as gill net, seine, trawl; marine debris; longline commercial operations; and recreational boats that lure dolphins near with food. Other perils include exposure to pollutants and biotoxins, viral outbreaks, and direct harvest.

How can you help? Be S.M.A.R.T.

If you’d like to learn more about dolphins, you can visit
www.education.noaa.gov
.

We can all do our part to protect these “angels of the deep.”

Mary Alice Monroe

•
 The Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (
Tursiops truncatus
) ranges in size from 6.0 to 12.5 ft (2–4 m) and in weight from 300 to 1,400 lbs (135–635 kg).

•
 Dolphins live in fluid social groups called pods. The size of a pod roughly varies from two to fifteen individuals. The natural diet of the bottlenose dolphin consists of fish and crustaceans. They do not chew their food but swallow it whole. Dolphins usually forage for food in groups and use their intelligence to cooperate in hunting strategies.

•
 Coastal bottlenose dolphins are very social animals. Groupings of females with calves are called maternity pods or nursery groups. Female dolphins help rear pod dolphins as babysitters or “aunties.” Mature males congregate in bachelor groups and sometimes two to three individuals form what is known as a “pair bond.” Pair-bonded males
will stay together for an extended period, if not all of their lives. Both young and old dolphins chase one another, carry objects around, toss seaweed to one another, and use objects to invite each other to interact.

•
 A bottlenose dolphin pregnancy lasts twelve months. Being mammals, dolphins bear live young and nurse them for about two years. Mothers remain with their young, teaching them forging and social skills, for an average of five years.

•
 The average lifespan of a coastal bottlenose is twenty-five years. Though it is uncommon for them to do so, dolphins can live into their fifties.

•
 Vision: Dolphins have highly specialized eyes that accommodate changes in light in and out of the water. Bottlenose dolphins can see up to nine feet underwater with good visibility and up to twelve feet in the air.

•
 Hearing: Sound travels farther and faster than light in the ocean. Dolphins have highly sensitive hearing. They create and listen for sounds in order to detect prey or predators, to navigate, to communicate, and to determine the location of other dolphins.

•
 Vocalization: Dolphins produce clicks and sounds that resemble moans, trills, grunts, and squeaks. Above water they make sounds by releasing air through their blowholes. Dolphins develop signature whistles, or “names.”

•
 Echolocation: Clicks emitted by a dolphin strike objects in the underwater world and bounce back as echoes that
are picked up through the dolphin’s lower jaw. From the returning echoes, dolphins can tell the size, shape, distance, speed, direction of travel, and density of the object, thus allowing them to “see” underwater. Dolphin echolocation is considered to be the most advanced sonar capability, unrivaled by any sonar system on earth, man-made or natural.

MARY ALICE MONROE

Marietta Muir is worried that her much-loved granddaughters, though as different as can be, are estranged. Now fully grown, Carson, the free spirit; Dora, the Southern-belle-turned-stay-at-home-mom; and city girl Harper haven’t spent time together since their long childhood summers with their Mamaw at Sea Breeze, the beach house on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina. But when Marietta schemes to bring her girls back together for her eightieth birthday party, the women’s differences threatens to tear them apart once and for all.

An L.A. photographer, Carson feels most at home when she’s in the water. But the ocean’s magic isn’t enough to keep her emotional demons at bay. When she comes to Sullivan’s Island, Carson is offered a fresh start . . . with some help from a marine biologist, a dolphin named Delphine, and her sisters—the summer girls.

1. Dora’s initial reaction to Mamaw’s plan to bring the summer girls together for the season is to call it
“blackmail”
. Do you agree with Dora, or are you sympathetic with Mamaw’s scheme? Why or why not?

2. Besides Harper, Carson, and Dora, Mamaw and Lucille have perhaps the most complex and important female relationship in the book. Describe their friendship. How do the two older women serve as role models to the younger three?

3. Mamaw plans to give her granddaughters their pearl necklaces early in the book, before we know Dora, Carson, or Harper very well as characters. What could you assume about each of the summer girls based on Mamaw’s choices for them? Were those assumptions accurate?

4. Carson is Mamaw’s favorite granddaughter:
“It might have been because she’d spent the most time with the motherless girl when she’d come for extended stays after being unceremoniously dumped by her father when he was off on a jaunt. But Carson was also the most like Marietta, passionate about life and not afraid to accept challenges, quick to make up her mind, and a tall beauty with a long history of beaus.”
Which of the three sisters did you relate to most, and why?

5. Dora has not been open with her family concerning Nate’s autism. Do you think this was a decision on Dora’s part, or simply benign silence? What would prompt this? Do you think her hesitancy was ultimately more helpful or harmful for Nate?

6. Discuss how Parker’s legacy affected his mother and each of his three daughters. The negative sides of his alcoholism and abandonment are obvious, but can you identify any positive effects of his actions?

7. In addition to their individual conflicts with each other, Harper, Carson, and Dora each have a complicated relationship with their grandmother. While they love her, they each feel guilty about being gone from Sea Breeze for most
of their adult lives and, at times, resent Mamaw for her meddling. What are Mamaw’s biggest faults in this novel? Why do you think Mamaw has decided to try “tough love” with her granddaughters?