Introducing... Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

Introducing books through the first chapter or so...

The dying actress arrived in his village the only way one could come directly-- in a boat that motored into the cove, lurched past the rock jetty, and bumped against the end of the pier. She wavered a moment in the boat's stern, then extended a slender hand to grip the mahogany railing; with the other, she pressed a wide-brimmed hat against her head. All around her, shards of sunlight broke on the flickering waves.

-- Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter