Luanne Rice tells the story of two characters from
her previous novels: Sister Bernadette and Tom Kelly.
Sister Bernadette is the head nun at the Star of the Sea
Academy on the rugged Eastern coastline. Tom is the
groundskeeper and maintenance man at the Academy. The two
share a great deal of history. WHAT MATTERS MOST finally
delves into that history and will satisfy new readers and
Rice followers alike.
About the time Sister Bernadette received her "calling" she
was also madly in love with Tom. They conceived a child
together in Ireland. After much agony, she decided to place
the child up for adoption and dedicated her life to
religion. Tom never got over her and, at times, the reader
thinks that Sister Bernadette might not have gotten over
him. After 23 years, she is clearly conflicted and has
buried her emotions about her love for Tom and the decision
to give up their child.
Sister Bernadette and Tom travel back to Ireland in search
of the young man they gave up for adoption years ago. They
encounter an angry nun from the past who seems to have an
ax to grind with Sister Bernadette and tries to impede
their mission.
In addition to the main plotline, there are two other
stories interwoven into the book -- one about a young man
named Seamus and another about a young woman named
Kathleen. At first, the stories seem random, but the reader
knows if they keep reading, connections will appear.
Everyone seems to be searching for something important
that's been lost. If you're looking for an enjoyable,
engaging, soul-searching book, Rice delivers with WHAT
MATTERS MOST.
Sister Bernadette Ignatius has returned to Ireland in the
company of Tom Kelly to search for the past — and the son —
they left behind. For it was here that these two long-ago
lovers spent a season of magic before Bernadette’s calling
led her to a vocation as Mother Superior at Star of the Sea
Academy on the sea-tossed Connecticut shore. For Tom,
Bernadette’s choice meant giving up his fortune and taking
the job as caretaker at Star of the Sea, where he could be
close to the woman he could no longer have but whom he
never stopped loving. And while one miracle drew them
apart, another is about to bring them together again.
For somewhere in Dublin a young man named Seamus Sullivan
is also on a search, dreaming of being reunited with his
own first love, the only “family” he’s ever known. They’d
been inseparable growing up together at St. Augustine’s
Children’s Home, until Kathleen Murphy’s parents claimed
her and she vanished across the sea to America. Now, in a
Newport mansion, that very girl, grown to womanhood, works
as a maid and waits with a faith that defies all reason for
the miracle thatwill bring back the only boy she’s ever
loved.
That miracle is at hand — but like most miracles, it can
come only after the darkest of nights and the deepest of
heartbreaks. For life can be as precarious as a walk along
a cliff, and its greatest rewards reached only by those who
dare to risk everything…for what matters most.
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