Synopsis of Baily Lowell

     Baily Lowell is an extraordinary person who defies her thirteen years in an expression of courage and strength that would reflect well on anyone of any age.

     After her alcoholic father leaves town, Baily is left alone in the coastal village of Pelton Bay, South Carolina to take care her mother, Elerie, who suffers with complications from Lupus. Baily loves to spend time down on the dock helping family friend Ajax mend his boat. An early hurricane leaves Baily’s friend Gregory Rupert dead, and finds her rescuing the Rupert’s twin babies.

     Breta Bolton, the town’s black matriarch who has taken care of everybody at one time or another, buries her husband in Pelton Bay with Baily’s help and ends up in jail on a murder charge. On the same day, in county court in the town of Dalton up the coast, Evie Rupert, Gregory’s mother, is charged with child neglect in connection with Gregory’s death. Underlying both charges is the real crime, the murder of three Pelton Bay children. Baily suspects Rollie Simmons, an odd local character who is a science teacher and short-wave radio fanatic.

     Baily is motivated in her search by the intensity of her passionate relationship with Gregory, a love they share during the year before he is killed. With the help of her sister Julia, Baily endures her losses, survives a shocking climactic courtroom scene, and finds resolution in a bittersweet triumph of poignance and hope.