Summer at St. Elora Ferry: A Summer of Family, Food, and New Beginnings

Food anthropologist and museum curator Magnolia “Claire” Whitmore has built a demanding career while raising her young daughter alone. But after missing Sophie’s kindergarten graduation for a major exhibition opening, Claire can no longer ignore the uneasy distance between the life she leads and the mother she wants to be.

Then an unexpected letter arrives from an estranged great-aunt, inviting Claire and Sophie to spend the summer at Briarwood Farm in St. Elora’s Ferry. The remote destination promises spotty cell service, no internet, plenty of work, and a chance to “grow like wild.” Despite her doubts, Claire is drawn toward the family mystery—and the possibility of a different way forward.

Interweaving Claire’s present-day journey with Rose’s experiences during the 1940s and the American Women’s Land Army, Summer at St. Elora Ferry explores grief, motherhood, inherited secrets, courage, and the sustaining power of food. Rich with rural atmosphere, culinary history, cozy traditions, and recipes, this heartfelt novel follows women across generations as they reconsider happiness, belonging, and what it means to make a home.