Rae Ellen has penned a second
memoir, The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were
Beautiful, about her five years on St. John
in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a place with the mantra: You
can do anything you want, as long as the rest of
us know about it. Approaching retirement,
Rae Ellen and her husband, Tom, forsake the sailboat
idea and scrape together a down payment on a mom
and pop business on the island. However, there
are risks to living in paradise one cannot anticipate.
Soon after unpacking, Tom, a former Republican
legislator with a crew cut and solid traditional
values, realizes he is really a she, and begins
to dress like a toucan. This tale of the picturesque
and absurd includes some sex toys, a little voodoo,
a cast of offbeat customers and island personalities,
and the discovery that every ending holds a new
beginning.