The Barefoot Mailman by Theodore Pratt

 

"He [Steven] understood then that it wouldn't be many years before a regular railroad ran along here, all the way to Miami, just as Doc had predicted. Walking the beach would become a thing of the past. It gave him a queer feeling of life changing, turning over, and of good, familiar things passing."

                      -from the novel

This book was recommended and loaned by a friend who enjoys reading about Florida history. It is set in South Florida around the 1880's, before the "land boom." Main character Steven Pierton has taken on the role of mailman, delivering mail from Jupiter Lighthouse to Miami, walking barefoot the 100 miles along the beach. He has to watch out for outlaws called beachcombers, a negative meaning of a word I've only heard used positively. He occasionally had to escort others along his route, one who became a love interest and one he clashed with over multiple issues, a corrupt land speculator named Sylvanus Hurley. 

I enjoyed the first 2/3 or so of the book but the end got into political battles, turning violent, and I was left a bit confused. I will rate the book a 3; the writing is good, but the novel is far from the best historical fiction set in Florida!