The Silver Boat

Best-selling contemporary women's fiction author Rice (Last Kiss) returns to publisher Pamela Dorman for her latest family drama, a story about three sisters and their personal struggles, their beloved summer family home, and unanswered questions about their long-departed father. Darrah, Delia, and Rory meet to pack up the Martha's Vineyard house they cannot afford to keep and decide to set off on a mission to Ireland to try to find out what happened to their father. But when they return home to face the future, they unexpectedly discover they want different things. Rice's story lines are compelling, and to her credit, she doesn't sugarcoat the unpleasant things people and families sometimes go through. However, depending on your point of view, her descriptive writing style is either leisurely or meandering. While some readers may savor the poetic imagery, others may grow impatient with it.