Chantry Island was motivated by the 1975 movie Jaws, directed by Stephen Spielberg. The seeds that were planted in my mind over forty years ago burst into life in July 2019 under the most unlikely of circumstances. There are three parts to the story, all of which are linked by the great white shark. The setting is the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States.
In Part One, Jeff Robinson, who has just completed his last year at Roslin University, is driving to his summer lifeguard job at Carleton Place, which is close to the town of Brighton. He offers a ride to Stacey Murray, a beautiful young woman and the receptionist at the Clarendon Resort, which is also near Brighton. They bond very quickly, and on a quiet Sunday morning while swimming to Chantry Island, Stacey is attacked and killed by a great white shark. Sam Miller (the part-time lighthouse keeper) is the only witness to her horrific death.
In Part Two, Doctor Paul Reynolds marries Maureen Stapleton, an English secondary teacher. During an ill-fated sailing venture along the coast, their sailboat, called the Windhover, becomes stranded just outside Brighton's harbor due to a lack of wind. Because they need gasoline for their small engine, Paul decides to row the dinghy to the pier and walk the short distance to Smitty's Garage. When he stops to rest near the Brighton lighthouse, the same great white shark that killed Stacey Murray explodes into the dinghy. Paul's body was never found. In the inquest that follows, the reader will learn more about sharks than most people do in their lifetime.
In Part Three, the manuscript focuses upon the fishing trawler Southern Cross and its new owner Charlie Roach. Catching fewer fish compels him and his close friend Chase Givens to fish much farther from shore. The massive shark becomes tangled in their net. Charlie is unsuccessful in his attempt to kill it. As the years pass, he becomes stricken with pancreatic cancer and asks his son Jacob to push him in his wheelchair to the baseball outfield. They talk about the afterlife and reconciliation. Jacob gives the eulogy for his father. The town of Brighton experiences rapid development and is never the same.
The Prologue assumes great importance, because it reunites the reader with Jeff Robinson. It will leave a significant impression.
The story takes place along the Carolina coastline of the Atlantic Seaboard.
