BEAUTIFUL WILD

Romance blooms on a desert island.

Vidalia Hazzard has it all planned out: The teen socialite is determined to win the heart of wealthy adventurer Fitzhugh Farrar aboard the Princess of the Pacific as it sails across the seas from San Francisco to Australia. Vida’s plan doesn’t account for Fitzhugh’s friend Sal getting under her skin, nor for the luxury liner to disastrously sink, leaving Vida, Sal, Fitzhugh, and several other survivors stranded on a small desert island. As adventure and romance unfold away from the repressive social norms of the early 20th century, Vida discovers not just her true love, but for the first time, a true sense of self. The narrative travels in bodice-ripper trappings but smartly sidesteps the saucier elements of the genre in favor of an internal investigation of Vida. Sal and Fitzhugh are less defined, but the book knows it isn’t about them but rather what they represent. Readers (particularly those susceptible to romance and adventure) will be turning pages well into the night. The only problem is that shortly before the novel’s end many will have figured out how this is all going to shake out, and the narrative doesn’t do anything to surprise. Before this point there are a few well-plotted twists and turns, making the last chunk feel a bit like a story gliding on autopilot. The cast is White.

A sweeping page-turner.