Review: The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners by Luanne Rice (audio book)

From the back of the audio case: Years ago, Lyra Davis left behind a world of wealth and privilege and the people she loves 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 learning to live fully for the first time.

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 younger sister, Lucy, still long for the mother who ran away from them so they could be raised by the father they adored. But with the girls’ father now dead, and needing to be sure Lucy is secure as Pell hits senior year and prepares to go to college, Pell will travel across an ocean to find the mother she remembers and the deeper truths she has never been able to tell…

Read by: Bernadette Dunne

My thoughts: This book is a sequel to The Geometry of Sisters (click here to see my review) which I didn’t know about until I picked up The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners to read the synopsis. I loved the first book and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. In The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners we follow the story of Pell and her family, more specifically we find out why her mother left Pell and her sister so long ago. It is a story of a girl trying to reconnect with her mother and her search for deeper family understanding. The story line is engaging, and the diverse cast of characters is interesting as past experiences are woven into secondary story lines. We gradually learn what drove Lyra to leave her two young daughters, slow enough to savor the emotions yet not too slow as to have the story drag. With the changing points of view as the story is told, we are able to see deeper into the main characters. I love when authors continue stories about minor characters in additional books (Pell was just that in The Geometry of Sisters) – something Luanne Rice does quite a bit. Setting the book in Italy added to the charm of the story and was a departure from the norm for Luanne Rice – most of her books seem to be set in New England, particularly the Connecticut shore line. This was a refreshing change in setting.  I have read quite a number of Luanne Rice books, and now I want to see what I missed and try to find them on audio – they are the perfect books to listen to!

(I borrowed this audio book from the library.)