Augie van Meer believes he can dream a new life into reality.

It’s 1974, and the struggling actor empties his bank account to rent a carriage house in Newport, Rhode Island, for the summer. His goal: marry an heiress by Labor Day.

Armed with movie-star looks and unwavering optimism, Augie slips into the glittering world of Gilded Age mansions, private clubs, and old-money traditions he barely understands. When Daphne Moorecourt, the volatile daughter of one of Newport’s most prominent families, falls for him, Augie seems poised to claim the future he’s always imagined: wealth, status, and a permanent place among the elite.

But Newport’s polished surface hides rivalries, secrets, and shifting loyalties. As Augie dodges questions about his past and resists the advances of Daphne’s beautiful, troubled friend, he finds an unexpected connection with Erin Reilly, the sharp-witted daughter of Irish immigrants who is unraveling mysteries within her own family history.

Then a single sailing trip changes Augie’s fate.

Set during Newport’s transformation from fading seaport to glittering tourist destination, this atmospheric novel explores ambition, reinvention, class, and the fragile stories Americans tell themselves about success, belonging, and love.

Susan Price