Cece Downing's Start Over Summer

A witty, heartfelt novel about a young woman who leaves everything behind to work on an oyster farm in a small New England town.

Recently fired from her dependable career as an actuary, and recovering from a messy breakup with her fiancé, thirty-two-year-old Cece Downing is holed up for the summer in New London, Connecticut, without a plan. Mounting financial debts soon force Cece to take the first job opportunity that comes her way—one she’s wholly unsuited for—as a deckhand on an oyster boat.

Surprisingly, Cece finds herself loving the job: working with her hands, breathing the fresh sea air, and learning the ins and outs of oyster farming. And despite her overbearing mother’s pleas to get a “real” job and reunite with her wealthy fiancé, Cece plunges headlong into an ill-advised romance with her neighbor, a handsome shipyard worker named Morgan.

When a proposal to expand the oyster farm throws the community into an uproar, pitting wealthy waterfront owners against blue collar workers, Cece finds herself caught in the middle. And as a family crisis forces her to reevaluate her reckless choices Cece must come to terms with what she’s willing to sacrifice for the life she wants to live.“Cece Downing’s Start Over Summer is a perfect beach read—fun, thoughtful, romantic!” —Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful and Dear Edward

"This novel has everything I love about a New England summer: it’s warm, fun, the people are witty, and there’s a hot guy who works in the boatyard. I fell in love with our heroine Cece Downing as she searched for love and meaning amidst the oysters. Soon Wiley has gifted us wonderful characters and a totally satisfying story." —Annie Hartnett, national bestselling author of Rabbit Cake and The Road to Tender Hearts

"An intimate coastal portrait of reinvention, tracing a woman who trades certainty for saltwater. Wiley's prose is precise and restrained, with an observational grace that carries the novel forth like a steady, well-kept tide." —Weike Wang, author of Rental House A native of Nyack, New York, Soon Wiley is the author of the novel When We Fell Apart. He currently teaches English in the Upper School at Greenwich Country Day School, where he also serves as chair of the English department. He resides with his family in Connecticut.