Let’s say you live in Maryland. Your husband’s employer has just transferred him to Westchester. You need to find somewhere to live.
You google “Nicest Places in Connecticut.” Up pops “Westport.”
You visit. You fall in love with the town. You move here.
If you’re Lynne Constantine — whose story this is — you arrive with your 4-year-old twins 14 years ago, in the summer. Compo Beach and Longshore beckon. You feel like you’re living in “vacationland.”
Lynne Constantine and her friend Lisa Tantillo at the Compo Beach fireworks.
She spent 10 years here. She made many good friends, and never regretted the move. But she and her husband always wanted to live by a beach. Prices here are prohibitive.
They found a spot in Milford, 8 houses from the shore. (Just as importantly, it’s above the flood line.)
But Westport is in Lynne’s blood. She comes back a couple of times a week. Her doctor is here; so is here hair stylist, book club and church.
For many years, Lynne took classes at Write Yourself Free.
She must have been a great student. She sure has plenty of natural ability.
Lynne — who has an MBA from Johns Hopkins, and has explored coral reefs and sunken ships around the world — writes with her sister Valerie Constantine.
Lynne and Valerie Constantine. (Photo/Bill Miles)
Using the pen name Liv Constantine, their debut thriller, “The Last Mrs. Parrish,” was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club selection, People magazine Book of the Week, Target Book Club selection, and is in development for television.
Their second book, “The Last Time I Saw You,” was published by HarperCollins in May. It’s been optioned for film.
Now comes “The Wife Stalker” — a psychological thriller about a woman fighting to hold onto the only family she’s ever loved.
And it’s set right here in Westport.
Lynne wanted the action to take place in a “beautiful but authentic” town. There are references to Town Hall, Spotted Horse, Compo Beach and Joey’s fries (“the best in the world,” Lynne says).
“There’s a misconception that everyone in Westport is in the 1%,” she notes. “That’s not true. There’s wealth, but diversity. People care about more than money — the environment and education, for example. They’re real, and relatable. It’s a tight-knit community.”
That comes through in “The Wife Stalker.”
Her Westport friends have enjoyed seeing their town, in her pages. Readers everywhere have been “blown away” by the twist at the end.
Meanwhile, here’s an “06880” twist of my own.
Remember 14 years ago, when Lynne googled “Nicest Places in Connecticut” to live?
My name came up, as part of the Westport links.
She called me. I told her as much as I could about the town.
So I’m proud to claim my small contribution in introducing Lynne Constantine to Westport.
Without which (ahem) “The Wife Stalker” would never have been written.
(“The Wife Stalker” will be published on May 19. For more information, and to pre-order, click here.)
