Summertime at the Eden Rock Country Club : a season of mixed drinks by the pool, ladies' doubles matches on the tennis courts, and, of course, lively rounds of golf played with equal parts bonhomie and cutthroat competition. A grand old institution, Eden Rock is a lush New England haven where gossip and intrigue lurk discreetly behind a veil of old-world propriety and everything is supposed to remain the same. But one Fourth of July, a flock of geese descends on the verdant lawns; never fond of outsiders, the Eden Rock denizens find these new guests distinctly unwelcome and distracting.When Charles Lambert, a bond trader with a sensitive side and a faltering golf game, accidentally kills a goose with a wayward drive, he sets in motion a series of events that will, by Labor Day, leave the club's members and its staff changed forever. His wife, Madeline, must face the mutterings of other members about the state of her marriage, at the same time trying to ignore the solicitude of an exceptionally attractive lifeguard. Meanwhile, their daughter, an animal rights activist, mounts a quixotic campaign to make the entire club go vegan, much to the annoyance of Vita, a talented, obsessive chef who will stop at nothing to arouse the appetites and desires of her diners. Observing it all from her perch next to a roaring fire is Arietta Wingate, the wizened society matron who presides over one of Eden Rock's oddest and most secret traditions, one with drastic implications for the club's next generation. Read Less