The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners

June 15, 2009
The amazingly prolific Rice reintroduces characters from 2009's Geometry of Sisters
for this heart-tugger about a reunion of a mother and her two daughters who've been separated for 10 years due to a disturbing secret. Set on the picturesque isle of Capri, Rice's touching tale reflects on how families can survive and thrive despite tragedies. Lyra Nicholson is a lonely heiress living in Italy while her equally lonely daughters, 16-year-old Pell and Lucy, a 14-year-old math whiz, live in Newport, R.Iwith their grandmother. Lucy's already tried to contact (via equations) the ghost of her dead father with Beck, her BFF and the sister of Pell's boyfriend, Travis. Pell travels to Italy, wanting Lyra, who abandoned her and Lucy, to finally take responsibility for them. Max Gardiner, her mother's smitten playwright neighbor, encourages Pell, even as she is distracted by Rafe, Max's 19-year-old recovering addict grandson. Rice gives Pell an old-beyond-her-years stability that Lyra lacks in this beguiling beach read that would suit YA readers as well as their mothers.