The Sand Castle Book

In The Sand Castle, beloved American novelist Rita Mae Brown (Rubyfruit Jungle) revisits some of her most spirited and unforgettable characters—sisters Juts and Wheezie Hunsenmeir, and Juts’s precocious young daughter, Nickel—as they come together to cope with a life-defining loss.
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. As the sun swings higher in the sky, Nickel’s taunting of Leroy escalates and the weight of family history between her mother and aunt rises to the surface—until Leroy is bitten by a crab and all of their arguments fall away. It isn’t until years later that Nickel can see that single day at the beach for what it truly was—a life-changing lesson on family and all the pleasure and heartbreak that comes with it.

Publishers Weekly

Aside from the overpackaging (the inch-thick plastic clamshell case holds just two CDs), everything about this lean presentation fits nicely together. Marguerite Gavin's crisp, clean delivery moves the story along at a clipped pace; her voice is as clear and bright as the sunny day on Chesapeake Bay it describes. Creating a distinct aural character for each of the five family members in this story through accent and delivery seems effortless for Gavin. Particularly well done is her treatment of the seven-year-old Nickel, the main character of the story, and the older, reminiscing Nickel who narrates the tale. To the listener, she is obviously the same character, though her age and role in the presentation varies. A Grove hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 3). (Aug.)

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