Book One: TESS. From the wild decadence of late nineteenth-century Newport comes the tale of Tess Moran, a beautiful Irish housemaid in one of the grand summer "cottages," who makes a dark bargain with a man of commanding wealth and falls in love in the bargain.
Book Two: AMANDA.
Marrying American money to an English title is a tradition of its own; but Amanda Fain, a feisty heiress with money to burn, has a fondness for Bolsheviks and bootleg liquor that makes her an unlikely match for the reluctant, ironic, and impoverished English aristocrat Geoffrey Seton, who has been ordered to America to find someone who can pay the bills for the family estate back home. Set in the Gatsby era of the Roaring Twenties, AMANDA reflects the brash, reckless nature of a young country on the move.
Book Three: LAURA.
While the Great Depression grinds relentlessly on, Laura Andersson, a midwestern farm girl with an improbable love of the sea, embarks on a bold adventure that promises riches but delivers passion, one that threatens all she holds dear.
Book Four: THE HEIRS.
THE HEIRS is the dramatic conclusion to the four-book series BY THE SEA. Economic hard times are
a distant memory in high-flying, recent-day Newport, home of the oldest and most prestigious trophy
in the world, the Holy Grail of sport--the America's Cup. Here, the descendants of Tess, Amanda and Laura
play out their destinies, their paths crossing in unforeseen ways: Mavis Moran, Neil Powers, his daughter
Quinta, and America's Cup skipper Alan Seton all find themselves caught in a web of mystery, sabotage,
and conflicting desires.
Reviews for Antoinette Stockenberg's BY THE SEA
"A quality book. Antoinette Stockenberg has done her homework. The saga ... contains many of those little epiphanies, those moments of recognition. It is what makes, for example, Book One stand out from the rash of novels on class conflicts between Irish servants and their Yankee masters."
--Providence Journal
"The action moves along at a speed that makes it virtually impossible to put the book down. If I had had the time I could have read it non-stop, and I nearly did .... Here is a book to satisfy every sort of reader--those who crave fast action, Newport aficionados, and the romantics among us who love happy endings."
--Newport This Week Magazine
"A riveting saga/mystery. Ms. Stockenberg is a master of intrigue and romance ... she expertly leads readers through nearly a century of drama in the elegant, fascinating, and thrilling world of yacht racing [culminating in] a compelling mystery. This novel will provide smooth sailing for summer reading."
--Rave Reviews
"Sizzling [and] entertaining reading. The well-researched novel uses real people and places such as the Vanderbilts and Dennis Conner as a backdrop to the unfolding drama.
--Soundings Magazine