Cadence and Briar have been living with their Gran since their Mom passed away years ago. Their brother Tom has gone to fight in the war and they are all missing him so much including his girlfriend, Bess who also lives with the girls. Briar is obsessed with the war and loves learning about it - she even thinks she's spotted some u-boats in the water near the farm. Cadence just wants to read and get access to more books for herself and the troops. She'd love to one day move to New York and be a fancy editor.
In other chapters we learn about Mari in 2016. She's just come to Martha's Vineyard because she found a note in her deceased mom's things. She doesn't know who Ms. Deveraux is but she might be able to tell her about her mom or at least give her a painting lesson. Scrapping the last money she has she books a return ticket to Martha's Vineyard where she listens to a long drawn out story and tries to figure out how this story is important to her.
The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club has many other twists and turns to this story but I don't want to spoil it. If you love historical fiction this one is for you. I really enjoyed the story. At one point I thought it was over as all ends were nearly wrapped up when another twist begins. I will say there were a few parts that dragged for me when they were a bit more detailed about the war than I was interested in but that's just me. With the setting being Martha's Vineyard I feel it was quite a bit different than some of the other historical fiction books I had previously read. There's also a touch of romance as with most historical fiction.