These Yellow Sands: Memories from Manteo

The 1930s transformed North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The decade was a turning point for the storm-tossed islands where narrow strands of sand curve out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Swampy inland shores were havens for bootleggers, anglers and wealthy Carolinians seeking summer escape in cottages built from shipwrecks tossed ashore by the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Tourism was redefining this isolated coast, altering the lifestyles of its inhabitants. Author and Eastern North Carolina native Joseph N. Vaughan sets this as the backdrop for a young reporter, haunted by the loss of a friend who drowned in these Banks, who seeks solace on Roanoke Island. High stakes come with unmasking the past. The price of progress becomes clear, and the line between legend and reality blurs. As the suspense tightens its grip, it becomes clear that mysteries carry soulful consequences, begging the question: is it better to let the shadows of the Outer Banks keep their haunting secrets? Paperback, 325 pages, $14.99; e-book, $5.99.