Elizabeth De Veer

Elizabeth de Veer's novel The Ocean in Winter is a story of three sisters dealing with the aftermath of their mother's suicide many years before. Alex, the oldest and an ER nurse, found their mother dead when she just 11 years old. She left her job as an ER nurse to travel to India to work with a friend who runs a health clinic.

Alex is summoned back home to Massachusetts because a woman she barely knew left her a house in a remote marshy area. She plans to fix up the cottage, sell it, and return to India.

Her plans change when the middle sister, Colleen, is concerned that their youngest sister Riley has dropped off the face of the earth. Riley is a successful model who has had a drug addiction in the past. Concerned when her attempts to contact Riley by email and phone don't work, Colleen goes to New York City to try and find her.

After that fails, she hires a private investigator to find Riley. The PI is a kind man and promises to try, but says if Riley doesn't want to be found, it could be nearly impossible.

Colleen, married with two teenage children, lives to make her children's lives perfect. Since she grew up without a mother, she goes overboard to make sure her two children feel loved and have everything they need, even at the detriment to her marriage.

When Riley shows up at Alex's cottage during a storm, there are many questions. How did she know where Alex's new home was? Riley is drenched, upset, and not making much sense. Where was her car? How did she get there in a storm?

Riley has a lot of secrets that she has been hiding from her sisters. She shares them with Alex, who is relieved to see her sister, and confused and saddened by Riley's revelations.

Their mother's suicide when they were just young children haunts them to this day. It was a tragedy that their father didn't want to discuss, so the girls were left on their own to wonder why their mother took her own life. Was it their fault?

The Ocean in Winter is a heartbreaking story that asks the question, "do memories choose us or do we choose memories?" You feel compassion for these women who lived with this sorrow for so long, and the sisterly relationship felt authentic. It's a sad story about the damage that secrets can wreak for generations.… (més)

I love books about sisters. I am the oldest of three sisters and know that no matter what is going on in our lives, there is a special connection between us. The Ocean in Winter is a beautifully written book about three sisters who are working to connect with each other after several years of estrangement.

Alex was 11, Colleen was 8 and Riley was 4 when they came home from school one day and found their mother dead in the bathtub. Their father basically checked out from life and it was up to Alex to be the mother for the two younger girls and Alex and Colleen had to raise their younger sister. It's 25 years after the suicide and it has affected all of their lives in different ways. Alex was a ER nurse who quit her job after getting some devastating health news to go to India to help in a clinic. She got called back home almost immediately to take ownership of a house that a virtual stranger left to her. She plans to fix up the house and sell it so she can return to India but life has other plans. Colleen has two children and she thought a happy marriage until her husband told her that he wants a divorce. She has spent her entire married life taking care of her family and isn't sure what her life will look like after the divorce. Riley is a famous model who has been in magazines and modeled all over the world and lives in NYC. It's apparent right from the beginning that she's struggling with drugs and the deeper her addiction goes, the more difficult it is to keep a job and apartment. Plus she is haunted by a secret that she won't tell her sisters. Alex hasn't seen Riley in almost seven years and Colleen is desperate to find her but her calls go unanswered and her letters are returned. Colleen is concerned enough to hire a private investigator to find her sister. All three sisters have unresolved trauma from their mother's death that has created a distance between them but they all know that they need each other to help them recover.

This is a beautiful novel about grief and love and what it means to be a sister. This novel is so insightful and so well written that I was amazed to find out it was a debut novel for this author. I can't wait to read her future books.… (més)