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Published Jul 2008
112 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Since the publication of Rubyfruit Jungle in 1973, Rita Mae Brown has been a major American literary voice and a best-selling author. In The Sand Castle, she revisits some of her most unforgettable characters: sisters Juts and Wheezie Hunsenmeir, and Juts's precocious young daughter, Nickel.
It's August, 1952, and seven-year-old Nickel sets off for a day at the seashore with her mother, aunt, and cousin Leroy. Everyone's excited when they reach Chesapeake Bay--everyone except for Leroy, who is recently motherless and frightened of the world around him. Nickel delights in tormenting her cousin, but, as the group lounges on the beach and begins work on a magnificent sand castle, the sisters try to coax him out of his shell by telling stories about their own childhood trips to the shore. But Nickel's taunting of Leroy escalates, and the family history between her mother and aunt rises to the surface--and then a crab bites Leroy, and they must all come together.
Only years later can Nickel see that day for what it truly was--a life-changing lesson about family and the pleasure and heartbreak that comes with it.
"The final three paragraphs elevate this tale from bittersweet to heartbreaking. " - Publishers Weekly.
"Fans of the story line will likely be interested, but other readers may find the work lacking." - Library Journal.
"Not much happens - there's just enough incident for a substantial short story - but Brown has a great ear for the way children argue, and a keen eye for the way their childish arguments shade off into the defining conflicts of a lifetime." - Kirkus Reviews.
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Photo © Mark Homan
Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of many books including Rubyfruit Jungle, In Her
Day, Six of One, Southern Discomfort, Sudden Death, High
Hearts, Bingo,, Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of
Writers' Manual, Venus Envy, Dolley: A Novel of Dolley Madison in
Love and War, Riding Shotgun, Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary
Rabble-Rouser, Loose Lips, and Outfoxed. An Emmy-nominated
screenwriter and a poet, she lives in Afton, Virginia.
Sneaky Pie Brown, a tiger cat born somewhere in Albemarle County, Virginia, was
discovered by Rita Mae Brown at her local SPCA. They have collaborated on at least 14 Mrs. Murphy mysteries.
The God of Endings
by Jacqueline Holland
A suspenseful debut that weaves a story of love, history and myth through the eyes of one immortal woman.
Once We Were Home
by Jennifer Rosner
From the author of The Yellow Bird Sings, a novel based on the true stories of children stolen in the wake of World War II.
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