Two Harbors: A Suspense Thriller of Family Secrets, Hollywood Dreams, and a Woman's Legacy of Betrayal

by Kate Benson

Those who live in the isolated port town of Two Harbors, Minnesota, still remember the strange downfall of Lila Maywood—a striking beauty who abandoned her family for Hollywood with dreams of becoming a movie star. Lila's disappearance has defined the life of her daughter, Casey, left with only an autographed, heart-shaped headshot of her mother. When a big-city stranger shows up in town, Casey reluctantly falls for him, only to have him desert her, too. This new abandonment brings Casey face-to-face with the legacy of her mother's past, and the possibility that her own future could follow the same course. Against her father's counsel, Casey journeys from Two Harbors to Hollywood, where she discovers a world of secret lives and shifting roles that holds revealing truths about those who left her behind.

Cinematic and suspenseful, this is the electrifying story of a daughter learning the one act her mother never letting go.
 

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 3, 2005

About the author

KATE BENSON's fiction has appeared in the Hawaii Review, the Allegheny Review, and USA Weekend and has been honored by Seventeen magazine and the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. She lives in Boston. Two Harbors is her first novel.

Reviews

[Laurel-Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Themes of loss, abandonment, and obsession carry the reader through the pages of "Two Harbors." The characters are real and flawed, but with dimensions that show us their humanity.

Casey Maywood’s life has been defined by her mother: first by her larger-than-life mother’s presence, and then by her absence.

When aspiring actress Lila Maywood leaves the family, her daughter Casey is left with a huge hole in her world. As much as she loves her father, it was her mother who made her world colorful and full of dreams.

Thus it is no surprise that much of what Casey does in the years that follow are guided by the whys, the what-ifs, and the pull of the emotionally unavailable people who come into her life, including the charming Dex Stone.

Mysterious events lead Casey finally to Hollywood–first for a funeral and then for the inevitable search for her mother–until, at last, she discovers more secrets and some answers.

This story was evocative and captivating, but at the same time, it was not an easy read. The narrative flipped between past and present, between real and imagined moments. I had to pay close attention, but eventually the end brought hope and closure.

Four stars.

[Jerald Wuorenmaa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This rambling and mostly plotless story would have been completely intolerable had I not read it in small sections over a long period of time. I cared little about the characters and even less about the conclusion - despite the book's loose connection to Northern Minnesota, which was the main reason I started reading it.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well crafted but the story got lost in the craft. A gloomy, heavy handed, perplexing novel, leaving the reader (or at least this reader) feeling let down and confused. The story never really took off -- I felt like the writer was trying way too hard to be Deep and Meaningful.

[Marissa Marlborough · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lame. I really wanted to like it but felt that the novel was too scattered, about too many different aspects. I don't really care about the protagonist and felt numb by the end. Also, many lines in the novel were cliche and silly. An easy beach read, nothing more

[Dianachristine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was pretty, but I got bored with the plot about halfway through the book.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story line was a bit confusing. I wanted to read the book because I live in Two Harbors. It was neat to have the town I live in described in the story.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book EVER