This book is based on the real-life erosion of the Sankaty Bluff in Siasconset (known as Sconset), the easternmost spot on Nantucket Island. I’ve tried to stick closely to the facts and complexities of the erosion problem, and even the weather that’s caused it, but as this is a work of fiction, I’ve tinkered with timelines and details for the sake of plot.
I first learned of the problem from an article in Vanity Fair about the gorgeous, grand homes, many passed down between generations, now falling into the sea. Though Cliff House bears the fictitious address of 101 Baxter Road, it is very loosely based on Bluff House, formerly located at 87 Baxter Road. In my mind, Cliff House is an amplified amalgam of Bluff House and the property located (for now) at number 93. These homes, real and imagined, sit high up on the Sankaty Bluff, yards away from the iconic Sankaty Head Lighthouse, which itself had to be moved owing to the faltering cliffside. Like Cissy Codman, several owners evaluated the possibility of moving their homes before finally succumbing to the inevitable.
As in the book, Sankaty lost over fifty feet of bluff during the 2012–13 winter storms. Town officials considered closing Baxter Road for good, until lawyers pointed out that they couldn’t simply shut down roads or the utilities running along them. Geotubes, like the ones Cissy Codman fought so hard for, were installed in late 2013, after the Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund (SBPF), fictionalized here as the Sankaty Bluff Preservation Fund, finally gained approval from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
These geotubes, large, sand-filled jute bags that look like burritos (as described by Evan Mayhew), are meant to keep the existing bluff intact. They are used in conjunction with a sand-replenishment program to prevent harm to neighboring beaches. According to the SBPF, as of late 2015, the time of this writing, no further erosion has occurred, thanks to these measures. The tubes currently cover about 900 feet of bluff, whereas the SBPF hopes to address the estimated 3,400 feet that are at risk.
You can learn more about the erosion, and what folks are doing to combat it, from the fund’s Web site at www.sconsetbeach.org. Of course, as with all prickly topics, not everyone agrees that the geotubes have performed as promised. Those who oppose such measures say that the geotubes won’t halt erosion and will instead siphon sand from the neighboring beaches and ultimately the entire island.
Van Lieu Photography has documented the erosion in memorable and evocative detail at www.vanlieuphotography.com and www.nantucketerosion.com. I’ve included my own (amateur) photographs on my Web site at www.michellegable.com and on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/mgablewriter/bookofsummer. I’ll leave the reader to decide which side he or she is on.