The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Luanne Rice (Author), Blair Brown (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2009

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.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Praise for the novels of Luanne Rice:

“A rare combination of realism and romance.”—The New York Times Book Review on Summer Light

“Few writers evoke summer's translucent days so effortlessly, or better capture the bittersweet ties of family love.”
—Publishers Weekly on Beach Girls

“Irresistible…vivid storytelling. Readers can almost smell the sea air. Rice has a gift for creating realistic characters, and the pages fly by as those characters explore the bonds of family.”—Orlando Sentinel on The Secret Hour

”Luanne Rice has enticed millions of readers by enveloping them in stories that are wrapped in the hot, sultry weather of summer…she does it so well.”—USA Today


From the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (August 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739343661
• ISBN-13: 978-0739343661
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.2 x 5.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,456,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

LUANNE RICE is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-nine novels, most recently The Silver Boat. Her books, including Cloud Nine and Dream Country, often center on love, family, nature and the sea, and have been translated into twenty-four languages. A number of Rice's novels have been adapted for television, including Crazy in Love for TNT, Blue Moon for CBS, the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentations of Follow the Stars Home and Silver Bells, and Beach Girls as a summer drama series for Lifetime Television. She has contributed a theatrical piece to the new off Broadway play Motherhood Out Loud. Rice loves nature and frequently writes about it. Born in New Britain, Connecticut, Rice divides her time between New York City and Old Lyme, Connecticut, in the house where she spent all her childhood summers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I DIsagree With Most Reviews., April 25, 2010

By 

Audrey "Audrey" (Waynesville, NC) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners (Hardcover)

I almost let some of the reviews scare me off from this one as much of a Lou Ann Rice fan as I am. I went ahead and ordered this along with Geometry of Sisters, as someone said this book should be read after the other as it continued with some of the characters. I totally agree. Both books were excellent. I couldn't put them down and wish there would be another. I am not quite ready to leave these characters yet.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars just OK, September 14, 2009

By 

K. Haggard - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners (Hardcover)

This book was just OK. It was enjoyable but it was kind of a slow story and you knew just how it was going to end well before you were half way through the book. I've read almost all of the Luanne Rice's books and really like her work, but this is not one of her best. The character of each person could have been developed more. There was no character that one could really like or dislike.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners, January 30, 2010

By 

Heather Nicolaou (Maine) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners (Hardcover)

This was a great book - I would recomment reading the Geometry of Sisters first as I didn't and the books are connected somewhat. The description of Capri really got to me. I have visited Greece a number of times, but this part of Italy really seemed familiar. I loved LuAnne Rice's writing and have read every book that I know of that she has written at least in the past five years.