A Nantucket Enclave: Monomoy Heights

By Catherine Butler Hull, Office and Events Manager

What is a "beach read" anyway?

It is absolutely whatever brings pleasure to the reader. Most people associate a "beach read" with light romance, a mystery, or a “tell all” of the rich and famous. Then there are those few whose pleasure is derived from an intense self-help book that they have never had time to read or a technical manual with which a few naps, lulled by ocean waves, are required to relax.

The bottom line is this: the choice is all about the reader’s pleasure. Pleasure in a compelling tale, an escape from the usual of our routines, a story/or stories that move quickly and entice you to go back into the book for more. If this is your kind of read, then C. S. Lovelace’s A Nantucket Enclave: Monomoy Heights is your book.

Monomoy Heights is a treasured, beautiful sub-community on Nantucket. At first glance C. S. Lovelace’s book appears to simply be about the Monomoy properties going back to 1852. However, it is much more. It has all of the elements associated with a “beach read:” intrigue, crime, history, and romance, all of which make it a quintessential selection for the summer.

Lovelace digs into the stories of the men and women who owned, and wished to own, property in this coveted island community. Founding families, artists, financial moguls, mariners, upstanding and moral attorneys as well as those who were double-crossing without conscience, notorious developers, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs, all of both genders, are in his stories.

Throughout the book are tidbits of Nantucket’s rich history. To drop a few names:

• Nantucket’s Representative to the State Legislature, Robert Mooney who was instrumental in getting the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’s very first bicycle path built on Nantucket. The bike path from town to Siasconset was built with state allotted highway monies for which Nantucket Island had little use.
• Andrew Krog, who was a founder of the Angler’s Club, the Wharf Rats Club and the Pacific Club.
• John (Jack) Winter who was a founder of the Friends of Nantucket Historical Association.

Lovelace brings a personal glimpse of these noteworthy people, their lives, and their properties in a “can’t stop reading” manner. So this summer go and enjoy the beach, the weather, Nantucket, and Mill Hill Press’s own “beach read,” C. S. Lovelace’s A Nantucket Enclave: Monomoy Heights.

Known for its distinctive Nantucket books, Egan Maritime Institute’s Mill Hill Press is the most prolific source of books related to the island and its maritime heritage. Mill Hill Press sells books on topics ranging from the island’s history, literature, art, and architecture to its traditions and relationship with the sea.

To purchase titles you may call Egan Maritime’s Adminstrative Office at (508) 228 - 2505; email egan@eganmaritime.org; or visit the Nantucket book sellers below.

Select titles are available at:

• Egan Maritime’s Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum, Gift Shop, 158 Polpis Road
• Mitchell’s Book Corner, 54 Main Street
• Nantucket Bookworks, 25 Broad Street
• Nantucket Historical Association, Museum Shop, 15 Broad Street
• The Hub, 31 Main Street