Leara Rhodes’ first two books, “Spancil Hill” and “The Darkest Midnight in December,” introduced her as a talented storyteller, one worthy of endorsement by the Celtic Heritage Foundation. Those two books took us from 1885 Ireland to 1907 America, leaving us with some of our favorite characters headed back to Ireland.
In “Tybee Rhapsody,” Rhodes continues to carry her well-developed characters throughout this book, just as she has done before. Rhodes third novel picks up in Dublin and brings her main character, Gertrude Kelly, back to America, after a disastrous turn in her life. Her plans to become a concert pianist and classical composer appear to be in ruins. Rhodes allows you to feel Gertrude’s anxiety and concerns with each development of her journey back home.
Gertrude’s marriage in shreds, and her plans upon returning to America wither into nothingness when she discovers how her impulse choices will change her life forever. Throughout “Tybee Rhapsody,” you get to know who Gertrude is, how she feels, what she fears, as her journey turns inward in the hope of making something out of what is left of her future. Loved and supported by the friends she had left behind, she settles for a job as winter caretaker at the Fresh Air summer home for children on Tybee Island. It is the sounds of Tybee that awaken the music in her and provide the opportunity to translate those sounds into the music that she feels, into her rhapsody.