All the Finest Girls: A Novel

By: Alexandra Styron

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Synopsis: When Addy Abraham steps out from the airport terminal into the noonday heat of the Caribbean, she enters a world of brilliant color and sound - nothing like the wintry, gray existence she has left behind in the city. Recovering from a perplexing illness that has left her weak and uneasy, she spontaneously embarks on a journey into the past, a journey that - strangely enough - begins on the island of St. Clair, a place she has never seen. Addy's trip is propelled by memories of the woman who raised her, and of the girl she once was. In the emptiness created by her parents' distant and unhappy marriage, Addy grew up a nearly feral child, untamable and fierce. The arrival of Louise, a new nanny, gave Addy her first feeling that someone understood her and cared for her unconditionally. As Addy grew up, Louise offered a haven, perhaps the only thing that stood between her and her darkest instincts. Now comes news of Louise's death, startling Addy out of the trance that her daily routine has become. Arriving on St. Clair for the funeral, she is drawn into the turmoil and grief of Louise's close-knit family. But as she meets Louise's children and her lover - all the people she abandoned to care for a stranger a thousand miles away - Addy awakens to how little she knew of the most important person in her past. And she is finally forced to confront the myths that helped her survive her childhood - the same ones that are making her adult life a barren ground.