The Myth of Perpetual Summer Read online

My heart breaks a little. Walden has eight years before he’ll be eligible for parole. He’s still refused to see any of us except Ross—and that took months of skillful psychiatric maneuvering. Last month Ross returned from the prison with a letter for me. I opened it with a heart full of hope.

  Tallulah,

  The only reason I talk to Ross is because he convinced me it will help you and Gran get past everything. I am who I am; but I am not a cold-blooded murderer. I thought the house was empty. We were protecting ourselves from an unfair and unwarranted attack. Moore was manufacturing evidence against an honorable leader of men. I believe in Westley Smythe. I believe in our brotherhood. But I would not kill for any reason.

  Walden

  Ross assures me this is a breakthrough, a beginning. He thinks in time, he can undo the conditioning of the cult. I hope he’s right.

  As for Dharma, she’ll never return to Mississippi. But I don’t ruin Gran’s dream by saying it. Sometimes our dreams are all that get us up in the morning.

  Hours later, our bellies are full, and the crawfish shells are scattered on newspaper along with the corncobs. After Tommy, Maisie, and their families have gone, I ask Griff to show me the pecan orchard. The uneven ground sometimes gives him trouble, so instead of walking, we ride in an old military surplus jeep. As he points out the changes and improvements I’m still a little stunned that he, of all of us, is the one to come home.

  Once we reach the southwest corner by the river, he stops under the boughs of my tree.

  “I have a feeling there’s something you want to tell me,” he says as he shuts off the engine.

  “There is.” I take a deep breath, still unsure in my own heart. “I found Margo.” I watch his face carefully.

  “Why in the hell would you do that?” he asks with more bewilderment than anger.

  “I’m not sure,” I say honestly. “It just felt so unfinished.”

  “Where is she?”

  “An apartment in Tucson.”

  “Alone?”

  “I don’t know. All I have is an address.”

  “I hope she’s alone.” His face is hard.

  “I thought we should decide together if we want to do anything about it.”

  “Oh, Lulie, I have nothing to say to her. She erased us. Let her live the life she’s chosen—whatever it is. I don’t care.” He takes my hand. “But you do whatever you need to.”

  I secretly hoped he would make a definitive decision for both of us. A coward’s approach, I suppose.

  I feel Griff watching me, his hand tightens around mine as I search my soul. The awareness that this is my choice, the power is in my hands, seems to come out of the blue, although it’s been true ever since I walked off this farm eleven years ago.

  Suddenly, I realize this is the first time thinking of Margo doesn’t hurt. In this moment, with Griff at my side and Gran and Ross waiting for me, I decide to let my mother go.

  It takes me a few precious moments to release a hope I didn’t realize I’d been holding. Then I cast the empty place that should have been filled with a mother into the current of the river below and allow it to be carried away.

  My road has been long with many losses, some at my own hand, some dictated by others. I’ve learned to accept my own weaknesses and forgive those I love theirs. I hope that, in time, Dharma and Walden will find their peace, too. Even if the road doesn’t lead them back to Pearl River Plantation.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  With each book I discover how much I don’t know. I’m grateful to those who share their knowledge, experiences, and aid my research. They allow me to tell my story with as much truth and accuracy as possible. That said, any artistic license (this is fiction, after all) or errors are on me.

  I am indebted to many. I thank Dr. Walter Beaver for insights and fact-confirming. Thanks to Marilyn Thompson for generous assistance in research. My surfing nephew Jeff Zinn was my Huntington Beach and SoCal surfing guide; he taught me so much more than I could incorporate into this book, and always in such an entertaining fashion.

  To the brave people who chronicled living with bipolar disorder and to those who shared their stories of living with someone with the disorder. For further reading and insight, I highly recommend An Unquiet Mind, by Kay Redfield Jamison, brilliantly written and painfully honest.

  To my intrepid and ever-patient agent, Susan Ginsburg, thanks for your hard work, your keen insight, as well as putting up with my snail-like writing pace and false starts.

  The entire team at Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster was, as always, invaluable. Editor Karen Kosztolnyik’s sharp eye and gentle support were instrumental in the development of this book. Editor Kate Dresser escorted this project over the finish line and had the difficult job of helping trim this once-bloated beast into shape. Thanks to Molly Gregory for jumping in with cheer and enthusiasm, tending to those pesky details that continuously pop up. My appreciation goes to Jen Bergstrom for her support of this book, as well as the two that preceded it. Thanks to Wendy Sheanin for her amazing marketing efforts. Grateful admiration goes to Laywan Kwan, who designed this amazing cover. Thanks to Michele Podberezniak for guiding and organizing publicity. Hats off to those unsung heroes in sales who fight in the trenches every day to put my books into readers’ hands. Of course, homage must be paid to the booksellers who make sure readers and the books they are bound to love find one another.

  Fellow authors Karen White and Wendy Wax deserve a round of applause for the brainstorming, eagle eyes, hand-holding, and friendship. I don’t ever want to go through this process without you.

  Last but certainly not least, my husband and family, who put up with the mental absences, as well as the physical, when the book overtakes all.

  Check out these other books by award-winning author Susan Crandall!

  In this coming-of-age story set in 1963 Mississippi, a nine-year-old girl hitches a ride that is guaranteed to change her life forever.

  Whistling Past the Graveyard

  * * *

  A trio of three daredevil pilots take to the skies in 1920s America in this story of courage and daring.

  The Flying Circus

  * * *

  ORDER YOUR COPIES TODAY!

  GALLERY READERS GROUP GUIDE

  SUSAN CRANDALL

  Introduction

  When Tallulah James returns to her Mississippi hometown in 1972 after a seven-year absence, determined to help her brother escape a murder conviction, she hopes to avoid the small-town gossip mill and return to California as quickly as possible. But as Tallulah reconnects with her dysfunctional family, she becomes entangled in a web of long-held secrets about their history of mental illness, her tumultuous upbringing, and a terrible tragedy that nearly tore the family apart. Ultimately, the truth forces Tallulah to reckon with her past—and find a way forward.

  TOPICS AND QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  1. Why do you think Susan Crandall opens the novel with Walden’s arrest before revealing Tallulah’s backstory? How did your impression of Tallulah and her family evolve as the flashbacks unfolded?

  2. In what ways are the Jameses a product of time and place? How would the novel be different in another setting?

  3. Crandall depicts Margo’s activism in stark contrast to her selfishness as a mother. Why do you think Margo is outraged by social injustice but blind to the needs of her children? What fuels her outrage?

  4. Does The Myth of Perpetual Summer reinforce or challenge any preconceptions you had about the 1960s South?

  5. Discuss how the different characters perceive racial discrimination and the Civil Rights Movement. What do their various experiences and responses to racism say about them?

  6. While Tallulah envies the stability of Ross’s family, she understands that their expectations for him are stifling in their own way. Which would you prefer? Ultimately, is Tallulah’s family her millstone or salvation?

  7. How are the James children defined by their parents’ actions? Discuss how each of
the siblings emulate and/or resist Margo’s and Drayton’s behavior.

  8. Discuss how Tallulah’s childhood point of view shaped your impression of Drayton’s behavior in the flashback chapters. How did your understanding of his mental illness shift over the course of the novel?

  9. Drayton tells Tallulah that history is like “dominoes set in motion on one era toppling those in the next.” How does this theory bear out for the James family? What does it take for Tallulah to break from the past and gain agency over her own life?

  10. “Gran says family traditions are what give meaning to life,” Crandall writes. “But that’s not it. The family itself, if we accept it for what it is and not condemn it for what it is not, can be the fiber that weaves a rope that pulls us out of ourselves, and into a world where we’re willing to take an emotional risk.” Discuss the distinction here between tradition and family. How does the latter empower Tallulah to come out of her shell?

  11. Why do you think the “ugly parts” of the James family’s history bring some of the siblings together and drive others apart?

  12. Toward the end of the novel, Gran characterizes the cover-up of George’s death as “a lie of convenience that was meant to spare pain, not cause it.” What do you make of Gran’s obsession with keeping up appearances? Do you see her commitment to upholding the family legacy as shortsighted and harmful or practical?

  13. Gran tells Tallulah that “hurt and anger make a strong person brave and a weak person broken.” Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

  14. Discuss the ending of the novel. Were you surprised that Tallulah returns to the South? How is she able to accept the family plantation as a happy home despite her painful memories?

  15. What do you make of the title? Did your perception of the “myth of perpetual summer” change over the course of the novel?

  ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB

  1. Host a Southern-style brunch for your book club discussion. Don’t forget the mint juleps and the pecan pie!

  2. Read up on the Civil Rights Movement and discuss how your learnings inform the historical backdrop in The Myth of Perpetual Summer.

  3. Cast your film version of The Myth of Perpetual Summer. Which actors would you want to play the main characters, and why?

  4. Read one of Susan Crandall’s other historical novels (http://susancrandall.net/susan-crandalls-booklist). Discuss which is your favorite, and why.

  5. Learn more about Susan Crandall by checking out http://susancrandall.net/ or following her on Twitter @susancrandall.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  MELISSA CRANDALL

  SUSAN CRANDALL is a critically acclaimed author of women’s fiction, romance, and suspense. She has written several award-winning novels, including her first book, Back Roads, which won the RITA Award for best first book, as well as Whistling Past the Graveyard, which won the SIBA 2014 Book Award for Fiction. Susan lives in Noblesville, Indiana, with her family.

  FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR:

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Susan-Crandall

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  SimonandSchuster.com

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  BOOKS BY SUSAN CRANDALL

  * * *

  Whistling Past the Graveyard

  The Flying Circus

  Back Roads

  The Road Home

  Magnolia Sky

  Promises to Keep

  On Blue Falls Pond

  A Kiss in Winter

  Pitch Black

  Seeing Red

  Sleep No More

  We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook.

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  Gallery Books

  An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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  New York, NY 10020

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 by Susan Crandall

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

  First Gallery Books trade paperback edition June 2018

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  Interior design by Jaime Putorti

  Cover design by Laywan Kwan

  Cover photograph by Kristy Campbell/Arcangel

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

  ISBN 978-1-5011-7201-4

  ISBN 978-1-5011-7202-1 (ebook)