WAYS OF VIRTUE

In O’Neill’s historical novel, a young woman confined by societal pressures finds her world turned upside down with the arrival of a handsome pilot with a complicated past.

In June of 1954, 19-year-old Sabina McTigue is staying with her Aunt Poppy at her house on Cape Cod for the summer. According to her family’s expectations, Sabina will attend Weston College in the fall and settle down into marriage with a suitable man. The problem is, she isn’t sure that’s what she wants for her life (“In her mind, Sabina could see it all unfolding: the next four years of her life, like a series of grim snapshots”). She becomes more uncertain after she meets Colin Hatch, a pilot who has been mysteriously discharged from the United States Army and has a reputation for romancing the local women. Sabina and Colin are drawn to each other, but the arrival of actress Isolde Martin complicates matters when she hires Colin to be her personal pilot. More dramas unfold as a socially significantwedding gets underway (with surprising results), Colin raises the ire of a wealthy real estate developer (whose scheme to turn Cape Cod into the next major tourist area depends on getting enough votes from the locals), and a hurricane barrels toward them all. O’Neill constructs an intricate web of societal and emotional entanglements that could easily snag in less capable hands; here, all of the pieces manage to fall into place with relative ease. (The somewhat drawn-out summary of Colin’s checkered past near the novel’s conclusion is a rare instance of narrative clumsiness). With snappy dialogue (“Congratulations. I do crossword puzzles in my bed jacket. Let’s not burn daylight, dear”) and well-developed characters (even the minor players feel rich and fully drawn), O’Neill has written a compelling story of love, dashed expectations, and second chances.

A delightful small-town drama expertly bedecked with all of the trappings of a classic romance.