BY THE SEA, Book Three: LAURA

In the tradition of Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey, BY THE SEA is a four-part saga that sweeps from the Gilded Age through the Roaring Twenties Gatsby era and then to the Great Depression, culminating after nearly a century in a last hurrah for Newport, Rhode Island, wealthy and alluring "City by the Sea."  Set against a backdrop of mansions, yachts, and new money, the novel traces the trials and adventures of three families from three different classes.

Book Three:  LAURA.  While the Great Depression grinds relentlessly on, Laura Andersson, a midwestern farm girl with an improbable love of the sea, embarks on a bold adventure that promises riches but delivers passion, one that threatens all she holds dear.

Also available:

Book One:  TESS.  From the wild decadence of late nineteenth-century Newport comes the tale of Tess Moran, a beautiful Irish housemaid in one of the grand summer "cottages," who makes a dark bargain with a man of commanding wealth — and falls in love in the bargain.

Book Two:  AMANDA.  Marrying American money to an English title is a tradition of its own; but Amanda Fain, a brash heiress with money to burn, has a fondness for Bolsheviks and bootleg liquor that makes her an unlikely match for the reluctant, ironic, and impoverished English aristocrat Geoffrey Seton, who has been ordered to America to find someone who can pay the bills for the family estate back home.

Coming next:

Book Four:  THE HEIRS.  Economic hard times are a distant memory in the high-flying 1980s as the descendants of Tess, Amanda and Laura play out their destinies, their paths crossing in unforeseen ways.  Mavis Moran, Neil Powers, his daughter Quinta, and Alan Seton all find themselves caught in a web of mystery, sabotage, and conflicting desires.

 Editorial reviews

"A quality, original [work].  Antoinette Stockenberg has done her homework. The saga ... contains many of those little epiphanies, those moments of recognition. It is what makes, for example, Part One stand out from the rash of novels on class conflicts between Irish servants and their Yankee masters."
—Providence Journal

"A riveting saga/mystery.  Ms. Stockenberg is a master of intrigue and romance ... she expertly leads readers through nearly a century of drama in the elegant, fascinating, and thrilling world of yacht racing [culminating in] a compelling mystery. This novel will provide smooth sailing for summer reading."
—Rave Reviews

"The action moves along at a speed that makes it virtually impossible to put the book down. If I had had the time I could have read it non-stop, and I nearly did .... Here is a book to satisfy every sort of reader--those who crave fast action, Newport aficionados, and the romantics among us who love happy endings."
—Newport This Week Magazine

"Sizzling [and] entertaining reading.  The well-researched novel uses real people and places—such as the Vanderbilts and Dennis Conner—as a backdrop to the unfolding drama.
—Soundings Magazine