Karen Trailor Thomas

When the Sutherland family reunion descends on Malvern Gardens Inn, it catches eighteen-year-old Jennalee Preece in rebellion. Daughter of the inn’s owners, Jennalee hasn’t forgiven her father for uprooting the family from a comfortable life in San Francisco and dropping them in the middle of California’s gold country, far from anything hip, or fun, or exciting.<br><br>Acting out with local boys and refusing to play the piano she loves, Jennalee finds the Sutherland hordes a welcome diversion. Amid the countless well-off families come the Laidlaws -- on motorcycles. This black sheep branch of the family seems as rebellious as Jennalee does, and she’s drawn to their punk violinist son, Harley.<br><br>Over the four-day Fourth of July weekend, the Sutherlands drink, party, squabble, and even manage to burn down part of the inn. Can Harley pull Jennalee from her rebellion and help her find emotional stability with the music they share?

Sutherland

“I’m glad Jennalee can help out,” Jane said. “It’s quite a job you have.”


“But it makes my year,” Benita confided, beaming. “The rest of the time is peanuts compared to this, you know, weddings, birthdays, all the usual, then every Fourth of July it just explodes.” She clapped her hands. “It absolutely saves me.”


“Oh, no.” Benita leaned in to share the confidence. “The rich ones pay for it all. Prescott Sutherland, surely you’ve heard of him, mining or something. He died two years ago, but his money lives on, so to speak. His wife Marian runs it now, makes all the arrangements, chooses the food, everything right down to how to stock the bar, and it’s all paid from a corporate account, Sutherland Metals in San Francisco. I think the actual mining is somewhere in Southern California, though, out in the desert.”


Chapter 15