Everybody Adored Cara

by Ann Head

Everybody in town knew Cara Sumner . . . And everybody adored her—her husband, who discarded his first wife to marry her; Johnny Merrill, the boy next door, who wore her locket; her maid, her hairdresser . . . probably everybody but young Bibsy, rejected by Johnny, and Sumner’s first wife Helen, now living in an alcoholic world. And then Cara was found strangled with her own scarf in her own bed. But by whom? Garfield Sumner, who had a seemingly unbreakable alibi . . . Helen Sumner, brooding in her silent house . . . Johnny, whose love Cara had rejected . . . even Bibsy? Those were the questions confronting the handsome private investigator who entered the case, only to be drawn into a love entanglement himself . . . part of the strange web woven by Cara Sumner. Here is the revealing novel of a woman who changed the lives of all who knew her—and the quiet New England town in which it happened.

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Writer Ann Head, the pen name of Anne Wales Christensen Head Morse (1915–1968), was the granddaughter of AbbieHolmes Christensen, who came to Beaufort during the Civil War to educate the recently freed enslaved populations of the sea islands. Moving back and forth between Boston and Beaufort, Ann carried on the family tradition of bucking traditions and creating new literary forms.

Ann published dozens of short stories and serials in the major national magazines of her day, with many of her stories set in a small town just like Beaufort. She wrote of divorce, snobbery, affairs both emotional and sexual, prejudice, death, and out-of-wedlock childbirth, championing the nontypical heroines of the ladies magazines that eagerly accepted her work. In addition, she authored four novels which were published internationally, most notably Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones, a compelling story of teen pregnancy which was later adapted for film starring Desi Arnez Jr. and is credited with helping create the Young Adult genre.
Ann was also Pat Conroy’s first creative writing teacher at Beaufort High School and she became a central figure in Beaufort’s literary scene, befriending many of the famous authors who wintered here, including Samuel Hopkins Adams (whom she considered her mentor), Somerset Maugham, John Marquand, and Katherine and E. B. White.

In conservative Beaufort, Ann championed civil rights and other liberal causes, and was a doyenne of local society, celebrated for her sophistication and literary achievement. She managed to successfully raise an out-of-wedlock child, eventually marrying the child’s father, all the while staying respected and revered in small-town society. Ann died suddenly at the age of 52, cutting short a vibrant life and promising literary career.

Reviews

[Rieta]

I loved this book. So old fashioned it reminded me of father knows best. Prescious characters, Marne, Johnny, Cathy and Lindsey. The father was excellent as well for the times. A kind of know it all common for the 60s. I was completely sucked in. I noticed only a couple other readers and a rating of 2 which I don't understand in the least. Compelling, fast read.