Thomas Wolfe famously wrote “you can’t go home again,” but the McCarthy sisters in Luanne Rice’s newest novel, The Silver Boat, learn that not only can you, but sometimes you must in order to truly find yourself.
After years of avoidance, sisters Dar, Delia and Rory meet up once more at their family’s beach house in Martha’s Vineyard in order to make peace with their past before finally putting up for sale the one place where they’ve ever felt truly happy. Returning to the scene of their childhood antics brings the disparity between the women they now are and the girls they once were into sharp focus for all three sisters, forcing them to question the choices they’ve made and the lives they are living.
As they divvy up the assets and furniture in the house, Dar, Delia and Rory come across old letters that dredge up memories—as well as provocative questions—about their grandmother, mother and Irish-born father. To discover the truth that lies in these old missives, the sisters set off for Ireland, where their ancestral roots run deep, hoping that they might finally come to terms with what it means to be a family.
With 26 bona fide hits to her name, New York Times bestseller Rice hardly needs another in order to prove her mettle as an author, yet The Silver Boat shows she is not resting on her laurels. Plumbing the depths of sisterhood, family and loss, Rice has crafted an emotional opus centering on three dynamic, engaging and resilient women. Rice’s writing effortlessly conveys the way family can bind as well as buoy us, reminding us that when the sea of life gets too choppy, by setting our prows toward the places that made us, we will find a safe harbor.
The Silver Boat is another winner from one of America’s most beloved authors.
