"Sometimes to move forward you must examine the past"
The Deep Blue Sea For Beginners
By: Luanne Rice
Genres: Fiction Family Life
Posted: August 30, 2009
As I read the story of Pell and Lucy Davis I couldn't help but feel a pull on my heartstrings. At a young age they were separated from their mother Lyra, and that separation has impacted them from that day to this.
At the beginning of Pell's teenage years their father, Taylor Davis succumbs to a brain tumor, and the young Davis girls are essentially left parentless. Now, Pell about to begin her senior year of high school wants definite answers about the 'hows and whys' her mother left and never attempted to contact either Pell or Lucy.
To get her answers Pell travels to Capri where her mother Lyra has been living since leaving. Once on the island Pell and her mother begin to form a relationship, and as with any relationship, be it a new one or an infant one, there are ups and downs. The unraveling of Lyra's disappearance affects not only the mother-daughter relationship, but also the way the Davis women from oldest to youngest react with others.
I would not pick up THE DEEP BLUE SEA FOR BEGINNERS expecting a quick easy read. It truly is a story of family dynamics, and one that I believe will have you thinking on your own interpersonal relationships. While I didn't cry while reading THE DEEP BLUE SEA FOR BEGINNERS you might wish to have tissues handy.
Book Summary
A legendary island steeped in the mystery and wisdom of centuries…
A runaway heiress learning to trust life, and love…
A mother and daughter, separated for years, searching for a way to face the future together…
New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice tells a powerful story of love, family, and friendship through the lives of two women who reunite at a place where dreams begin—and where they may be fulfilled at last….
Years ago, Lyra Davis left behind a world of wealth and privilege and the people she loved most in the world, unable to reconcile the expectations of her celebrated family with the longings of her own wild heart. Now she lives quietly among a community of expatriates on the isle of Capri, slowly, carefully learning to live fully for the first time, flourishing in the friendship of a singular man who recognizes in her a kindred spirit.
Granddaughter of the reigning doyenne of Newport, Rhode Island, wise beyond her sixteen years, Pell Davis is poised to take her place at the pinnacle of society. Yet she and her young sister still long for the mother who ran away from them when they were children so that they could be raised by the father they adored. Pell knows that Lyra felt she loved them best by leaving. But with her father now dead and her sister veering dangerously into fantasy, she will travel across an ocean to find the mother she remembers and the deeper truths they all need so desperately….
Lyrical, unforgettable, Luanne Rice’s new novel unfolds against a background of timeless beauty, as an unlikely love affair reshapes the meaning of devotion and three generations of women resist the pull of memory and tradition to find a new way forward.
The Deep Blue Sea For Beginners
by: Luanne Rice
Bantam
August 1, 2009
On Sale: August 4, 2009
Featuring: Pell Davis; Lyra Davis
320 pages
ISBN: 0553805142
EAN: 9780553805147
Hardcover