by Linda Cardillo
Genres: Drama, Inspirational
Format: Kindle, Paperback

Island Legacy: Book Three of First Light  Series by Linda Cardillo

“Innisfree binds us.” A new generation attempts to define where home is. When Lydia Hammond encourages her grieving granddaughter, Elizabeth Innocenti, to spend the summer at Innisfree, the family’s compound on Chappaquiddick Island, Elizabeth undertakes the journey from her home in Italy with her fourteen-year-old son, hoping to heal from the devastating loss of her husband after a long illness. Innisfree holds cherished memories of an idyllic childhood for Elizabeth.

But when she arrives, she finds the place abandoned, derelict and as needy as she is. A reluctant steward, Elizabeth undertakes the task of making the cottage habitable until a hurricane forces her to take shelter with the Monroe’s, the Wampanoag family who once owned Innisfree. The fraught and tangled history between her grandmother and the Monroe’s pulls Elizabeth into a passionate search for Innisfree’s meaning for both families. At the same time, her challenging relationship with Caleb Monroe, the grandson of Mae and Tobias, forces her to confront her perception of who she is and what she wants. The final book in the award-winning First Light series

Review:

When Elizabeth’s husband dies, she is grieving and heartbroken. In order to find solace and peace, she takes her grandmother, Lydia Hammond’s, advice and ventures from where she lives in Italy back to “Innisfree,” her grandmother’s cottage on Chappaquiddick Island, for the summer. She packs up her fourteen-year-old son and travels back to her beloved childhood sanctuary.

Upon arriving she finds her treasured Innisfree in utter shambles and abandoned. She decides to take it upon herself to restore the cottage and make it habitable. There, she longs to recapture the wonderful days she spent as a child, until a hurricane hits and throws her plans to the wind.

She then finds herself taking shelter with the Monroe’s, a Wampanoag family who used to own Innisfree. She soon starts to discover its stressed history. Elizabeth, passionately, begins to search for Innisfree’s meaning for both her family and, the Monroe’s. In doing so, Elizabeth is forced to face her own feelings of grief and despair and confront the meaning of her life and what her future holds. She also has to deal with and try to understand her stirring relationship with Caleb, the Monroe’s grandson. Will Elizabeth figure out who she is, where she fits in and what she now wants in life?

Island Legacy is the story of a young woman who is devastated and desperately trying to heal, not only herself, but her teenage son as well. She is strong and charismatic, with lessons still to be learned. I loved the way her character grew and evolved. Linda Cardillo did a magnificent job in developing her personality and tone.

The characters are endearing and realistic. They are multidimensional and well developed. Their interactions invoke emotions and feelings of everything from grief to hope to joy and more.

I loved Island Legacy. Every sentence drew me in as I was moved by the storyline and the way Linda Cardillo wrote the narrative. It is compelling, engrossing and captivating. The descriptions are vivid and sensual and I felt like I was there amidst the beautiful setting and surroundings. Purely delightful, I couldn’t put this book down and read it through in less than two days.

It is a beautiful riveting journey of love, yesteryear, intrigue, disaster and redemption. It is written in a lyrical tone with exquisite descriptions of Martha’s Vineyard and the Chappaquiddick Island, which is the ancestral home of the tribe of the Wampanoag Indians. The island legacy and the culture of the Wampanoag Indians still reside there. Reader’s get an interesting history lesson of the beauty and solitude of this tribe.

I was completely engulfed in the storyline and the plot. It is so unique and original. And just the setting alone, is a treasure to be savored. I fell in love with Innisfree, the people and everything about it. Readers will be taken on a trip to another place that they won’t want to return from.
The ending is fully satisfying and convincing.

Island Legacy is the third installment in Linda Cardillo’s “First Light” series. It can be read as a standalone book because Linda fills readers in on the previous accounts, characters and settings.

This is one that I will read again. It is that good.

Linda Cardillo is a skilled exceptional writer. I’m looking forward to reading the first two installments in the “First Light” series entitled “The Boathouse Café” and “The Uneven Road”

Chick Lit Cafe highly recommends Island Legacy by Linda Cardillo

Purchase Island Legacy by Linda Cardillo @Amazon