The House On Fripp Island

by Rebecca Kauffman

Overview

A taut, page-turning novel of secrets and strife. When two families—one rich, one not—vacation together off the coast of South Carolina, little do they know that someone won't be returning home.

Fripp Island, South Carolina is the perfect destination for the wealthy Daly family: Lisa, Scott, and their two girls. For Lisa’s childhood friend, Poppy Ford, the resort island is a world away from the one she and Lisa grew up in—and when Lisa invites Poppy's family to join them, how can a working-class woman turn down an all-expenses paid vacation for her husband and children?

But everyone brings secrets to the island, distorting what should be a convivial, relaxing summer on the beach. Lisa sees danger everywhere—the local handyman can't be allowed near the children, and Lisa suspects Scott is fixated on something, or someone, else. Poppy watches over her husband John and his routines with a sharp eye. It's a summer of change for all of the children: Ryan Ford who prepares for college in the fall, Rae Daly who seethes on the brink of adulthood, and the two youngest, Kimmy Daly and Alex Ford, who are exposed to new ideas and different ways of life as they forge a friendship of their own. Those who return from this vacation will spend the rest of their lives trying to process what they witnessed, the tipping points, moments of violence and tenderness, and the memory of whom they left behind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780358274285
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/02/2020
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

REBECCA KAUFFMAN received her MFA in creative writing from New York University. She is the author of The Gunners and Another Place You’ve Never Been, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Originally from rural northeastern Ohio, she now lives in Virginia.

Read an Excerpt

Hours before the guests were scheduled to arrive, the banquet staff vacuumed up olive pits and croutons smashed into the burgundy carpet of the executive ballroom. They flattened starchy white cloths over tables, assembled the chocolate fountain, and did a test run to make sure all eight tiers were properly attached. They distributed garland and potted poinsettias throughout the room, polished glassware, and folded napkins into stars. When the room was finally ready for service, they slipped outside and stood behind the dumpster, smoking cigarettes in the snow. The dumpster steamed with fresh garbage from the kitchen: coffee grounds and shrimp shells. They passed around a tube of wintergreen Life Savers and watched as the first guests pulled up to the valet station. The driver was wearing a stupid-looking oversized elf hat, and he tossed the contents of a red Solo cup into the snow before passing his keys to the valet.

The Raslowe & Associates employee Christmas party was in full swing by seven o’clock that evening. Open bar. It had been a good year.

Midway through the festivities, Scott Daly was named the winner of the big-ticket raffle, and he dragged his wife, Lisa, onstage with him to accept the award. She was several inches taller than him. He wore a navy blazer, expensive-looking jeans with artificial fading, and Italian loafers. His thick, wavy hair was skunk-like, mostly black with a dramatic white chunk shooting out right at the part; his face was jammed full of teeth. Lisa’s dyed red hair gleamed a bit oddly under the fluorescent lighting.

Scott had an arm around Lisa’s waist when he reached the stage to retrieve the envelope from the head of HR, who had announced all the raffle winners. Scott took the envelope, then raised and tipped his gin and tonic to the crowd. He was met with blank faces, bored, disapproving, disappointed faces, and some lifeless applause. “Whatever,” he murmured. Lisa’s pale face shimmered with sad exhilaration.

As the two of them made their way back to their table, the CEO of the company took over the mic to offer a robust little spiel about how well the company had performed that year.

At their table, Lisa didn’t hear a word of the speech. She was looking over the contents of the envelope her husband had just received. A small embossed card read: All Expenses Paid. Four days and nights at Fripp Island Resort. Redeemable through the next calendar year. A brochure accompanied the card and featured many photographs of the island, as well as a map. The island was situated just off the coast of South Carolina, midway between Charleston and Savannah. A golf course occupied a large portion of the island, which was six miles from end to end. Several bars and restaurants and crab shacks were advertised in the brochure. Photographs showed bright blue birds with yellow heads, palmettos, a fawn drinking from a fountain on the golf course, an expansive white beach, a footprint in sand.

Scott leaned toward Lisa. “Place looks neat, doesn’t it? Figured we’d invite the Ramones.”

Lisa’s upper lip curled, an involuntary flicker of objection.

Scott whispered, “I know you and Shirley aren’t close, but there’s nothing wrong with her. And JP’s always a great time, loves golf. And the kids actually get along.”

That was true. The Ramone kids shared interests with and were close in age to Scott and Lisa’s fourteen-year-old Rae and eleven-year-old Kimmy. And Scott was right, there was nothing so very wrong with Shirley, it was just . . . nothing was quite right about her either.

“Mm.” Lisa grunted querulously as she looked back at the brochure. She slowly emitted a soundless burp and adjusted her posture. She was no longer comfortable in her dress. Beside her, Scott resumed the joke he had been telling several minutes ago, just before his name was announced as the raffle winner. He waggled his head around to make sure he had the attention of everyone at the table before delivering the punch line. “Get it?” He snorted wetly, eyes circling the table for confirmation. “You get it?”

Lisa patted the top of Scott’s hand, a gesture intended to reassure him of the joke’s success and discourage him from telling any more. As she paged through the brochure for Fripp Island a second time, she felt a fresh wave of agitation that Scott had already decided who would accompany them on this vacation without consulting her. Furthermore, it occurred to her, she hadn’t a clue how many raffle tickets Scott had purchased for that drawing. For all Lisa knew, he might’ve spent more on raffle tickets than they would’ve put toward an actual vacation.

Editorial Reviews

02/10/2020

Kauffman’s keen, atmospheric follow-up to The Gunners explores class, friendship, and dark family secrets. In the mid-1990s, Lisa and Scott Daly invite Lisa’s longtime friend Poppy Ford; her husband, John; and their kids to join them for an all-expenses-paid four-day trip to South Carolina’s Fripp Island. The Dalys’ wealth is a source of tension for the Fords, who are still driving an ’81 Dodge Omni and struggle to get by. Despite this, Lisa is eager to reconnect with Poppy while their children soak up the sun. Fourteen-year-old Rae Daly is instantly smitten with 17-year-old Ryan Ford, who is about to start college, and Ryan’s younger sister, Alex, makes fast friends with Rae’s little sister, Kimmy. However, a current of unease runs through time spent at the beach and boozy rounds of golf. Lisa suspects Scott is having an affair, Lisa and Poppy discover that a registered sex offender lives on the island, Ryan is secretive, and Rae simmers in quiet desperation. Perhaps inevitably, events spiral to a shocking conclusion. Kauffman’s characters leap off the page; her portrait of Rae, a girl who longs to be seen as a woman, is especially vivid, as is her rendering of Lisa and Poppy’s fraught yet affectionate relationship. Readers will devour this suspenseful summer drama. (June)Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly spelled the title of the author's previous book.

Publishers Weekly

"Gripping." —People, "Best New Books, June" "Page-turner pacing...Combustible...The tensions between predators and prey — and how quickly one can become the other — haunt the novel, from its ominous beginning to its heartrending conclusion. But Kauffman also deftly crafts moments of great tenderness and light throughout, reminding us that memory endures and life perseveres, even after a harrowing and grievous loss." —The Charleston Post and Courier "Rebecca Kauffman has long been one of my favorite writers, and The House on Fripp Island is her best novel yet. The story of two very different families brought together for an unlikely vacation that takes a dangerous turn, Kauffman's latest is a rare and gripping combination of gloriously observed prose and three hundred pages of pure suspense. I loved it." —Julie Buntin, author of Marlena "A novel full of secrets set in a stunning beach house is my definition of a perfect summer read. I was stunned by the twists and turns of Rebecca Kauffman's masterful novel, The House on Fripp Island. Bring plenty of sunscreen when you take this book to the beach...you'll be reading all day long."—Amanda Eyre Ward, author of The Jetsetters "A sharp, modern story about the wilderness of family life."—Adrienne Celt, author of Invitation to a Bonfire and The Daughter “Kauffman’s keen, atmospheric follow-up to The Gunners explores class, friendship, and dark family secrets…inevitably, events spiral to a shocking conclusion. Kauffman’s characters leap off the page…Readers will devour this suspenseful summer drama.”—Publishers Weekly "Our assumptions about whose tensions, desires, rages, and shy longings might erupt into murder are provoked and reversed right up until the final pages, when the mystery of Fripp Island is revealed...An entertaining and ultimately tender book."—Kirkus "The tensions between the haves and the have-nots offer an insight into contemporary America...In watchful prose by turns powerful and delicate, the action builds to an event as inevitable as it was unpredictable. Gripping." —The Sunday Times   "Suspenseful...While the fault lines...allow for plenty of tart observations on marital disenchantment, Kaufmann spins a secondary, far more disconcerting story about the toxic power of suspicion and rumour. A smart summer read."—The Daily Mail   "Under the guise of a skilful domestic whodunnit Rebecca Kauffman has produced a disturbing novel for our times."—Shots Magazine "Readers will be drawn into a smart, keenly-observed look at family dynamics as they try to figure out which of the eight characters was speaking from the grave in this atmospheric beach read." —Amazon Book Review —

From the Publisher