The Last Season

Later, after the war began, the summer of '41 would be remembered in Newport, Rhode Island as The Last Season, the last magical summer social season before Pearl Harbor, the end of an era of social glitter and privilege. It was a halcyon time, when the beautiful daughter of a Portuguese fisherman could be swept off her feet by a handsome and wealthy young lieutenant from the Naval War College. Sera and Russell are caught up in a fairy-tale dream of romance and privilege, and Jake, Sera's childhood sweetheart, can only stand by and watch hopelessly.

But in the real world of 1941, fairy tales may not end happily ever after. The differences in Sera and Russell's background and class are as inescapable as the political and military situation that will plunge America into the war. And Russell, cultivated by a mysterious outsider who is generous with cash and the loan of a fancy car, thinks nothing of talking about secret naval war games. After all, they're only games . . . .