By Invitation Only begins in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, at a barbecue thrown by Diane English Stiftel to celebrate her son’s engagement. On this gorgeous, magical night, the bride’s father, Alejandro Cambria, a wealthy power broker, discovers the limits of cell phone range, while the mother of the bride, Susan Kennedy Cambria, learns about moon-shine and dangerous liaisons. Soon By Invitation Only zooms to Chicago, where the unraveling accelerates. Nearly a thousand miles away from her comfortable, familiar world, Diane is the antithesis of the bright lights and super-sophisticated guests attending her son Fred’s second engagement party. By Invitation Only is a tale of two families, one struggling to do well, one well-to-do, and one young couple—the privileged daughter of Chicago’s crème de la crème and the son of hard-working Southern peach farmers. Are they living the life they want, what regrets do they hold, and how would they remake their lives if they were given the invitation to do so?
