Cece Downing's Start Over Summer: A Novel

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 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 shipyard worker named Morgan.

When a proposal for a new oyster farm off the town’s coastline 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.