ELI'S REDEMPTION

Dark secrets lead to pain, intrigue, and golf in this novel.

It’s 1973 in Charleston, South Carolina, and Eli Atkins is a high school senior with a lot going for him: a loving stepfather and younger brother; a beautiful girlfriend; and an offer to play minor league baseball after graduation. His mother has never shown him much affection because “she saw her ex-husband every time she saw Eli,” but his life is otherwise charmed. Then Eli’s girlfriend is murdered and he becomes the prime suspect. And although Eli’s mother could exonerate him, she coldly informs him that she will not be his alibi. Instead, despite his innocence, she pushes him to flee their home to spare the family further shame. Feeling unloved and unwanted, Eli turns to family friend Mrs. Babcock for help. With the aid of a well-connected, local businessman, the shrewd Mrs. Babcock devises a plan for Eli to flee the country and hide in the Bahamas. Eli slowly builds a new life for himself under an alias, but even in a beachy paradise, all he can think of is returning home and clearing his name. When he meets a one-legged Scottish golf pro named Lachlan McGregor and blossoms into a stellar player, things finally start to look up. Lachlan’s gorgeous niece, Rachel, also helps matters. But Eli’s golf talent brings him to the attention of a conniving fraudster, and his new life turns almost as messy as his old one. Will Eli ever be able to go home? In this ambitious tale, Attaway expertly evokes both the Lowcountry’s “moss-covered trees rising up from the swamps and grass islands” and the white beaches of the Bahamas. The many twists and turns of the book’s plot will keep readers engaged, although long sections of unnecessary backstory regarding relatively minor characters, such as the relatives of Mrs. Babcock’s son-in-law, occasionally cause the pace to drag. But for Pat Conroy fans who love golf, Attaway’s absorbing novel will be a hole in one.

An engrossing, if overstuffed, tale of heartbreak and forgiveness.