From Amazon.com
Thirty-seven-year-old Sarah Talbot's lengthy battle with cancer forced her to put life on hold. But a clean bill of health has given her a second chance and she's not about to take anything for granted. Intent on living life to the fullest, Sarah reopens her bedding shop, aptly named Cloud 9, and plans a trip to Elk Island, a tiny island off the coast of Maine, where her unfeeling father and runaway son wait. Family reconciliation has long been her heart's desire, and Sarah knows that now is the time to mend familial fences. On the short plane ride to the island, she finds an unexpected confidant in pilot Will Burke, whose own personal demons make him the perfect conversation partner--and so much more. As Sarah struggles to communicate with the father she left behind and a son troubled by his own father's death--and his mother's illness--she takes refuge in the arms of Will and discovers a love she never thought possible, a love that will sustain the two in this life and beyond. Both beautifully written and well plotted,
Cloud Nine is a moving testament to the eternal power of love.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Readers sympathetic to Rice's (Blue Moon) highly sentimental take on the eternal power of love and family will enjoy this skillfully wrought tale of courage on the part of a single mother recovering from a brain tumor. Sarah Talbot, who has built a down-bedding mail-order business ("Cloud Nine") based on the products of her father's farm in Maine, finds new joy in life's simple pleasures, such as celebrating the 37th birthday she thought she'd never see. Her delight proves infectious to others in her small upstate New York community. They include Susan Burke, also known as Secret or Snow, a troubled teenager from a broken home who is still grieving over the accidental death of her brother; and Susan's father, pilot Will Burke, who is trying to cope with his failed marriage and his inability to save his son. In quiet, unassuming prose, Rice fashions a tightly paced story that is hard to put down, delicately constructing the blossoming relationship between Sarah and Will. At the same time, she effectively depicts the impact a loving person can have on an adolescent simply longing for a real connection with a caring adult. The Talbot family's island home, where Sarah's recalcitrant father and her estranged teenage son live together in a complex relationship, is idealized as a healing environment for the Burkes. The plot veers into melodrama at the end, when love and death meet in a heartbreaking scene, but Rice's message remains a powerful one: the strength of precious family ties can ultimately set things right. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.