"A family saga."

Caroline Renwick comes from a very dysfunctional family. Although she and her two sisters, Clea and Skye, are very close, she is the one that is always taking care of them. Her mother, Augusta, is in denial regarding her family's problems and had always catered to her husband, whether he was right or wrong. All of their problems as adults stem from what happened when they were children. A man, James Cooper, invaded their home. He was jealous because Caroline's father, a famous painter, was having an affair with his wife. He wanted to hurt the family as he had been hurt but ended up killing himself instead.

Caroline, knowing that James Cooper had a son that was her age, wrote to the young Joe Cooper. They became pen pals and good friends but Caroline never told him the truth of what happened to his father. Later, Caroline's father teaches the three little girls how to shoot. He sends them into the woods to kill animals. Skye, the youngest, kills a young man mistaking him for a deer. She can never forgive herself for the 'murder'.

Now, Caroline is thirty-six years old, unmarried, and running a small inn. Clea is married with two children and Skye is separated from her husband and an alcoholic. Their mother, Augusta, refuses to believe that Skye has serious problems. Their famous father is dead.

When Joe Cooper appears out of the blue to hunt for sunken treasure off of the coast, he and Caroline are attracted to each other all over again. Can they possibly get through everything that happened in the past? His younger brother, Sam, joins him. They too must learn to become true brothers.

It was difficult to relate to some of the characters in Firefly Beach. What kind of a father forces his daughters to hunt and kill animals when the children are clearly appalled at doing so? What kind of a mother allows the father such autonomy over her daughters when she knows it is not right? After his death, the family has to come to terms with all of these issues. It got a bit tiresome having Caroline hold the family together and trying to help her sister and mother.

Sam was a wonderful character who really added to the story and diving for treasure was an interesting backdrop. As always, Ms. Rice's writing is impeccable keeping the story moving along at a good pace. My favorite parts of the book are the letters written by Caroline and Joe to each other as teenagers. They fit in beautifully at the end of each chapter to add a wonderful flavor to the novel.

Reviewed by Marilyn Heyman
Posted August 2, 2001