Overview
Daisy had gone to the Wyoming wilderness in search of inspiration for her art. She found rancher James Tucker, a man with the wilderness inside him. Their life together was close to paradise - until their three-year-old son Jake disappeared and was never found. Her marriage in tatters, Daisy returned home to Connecticut, taking with her from Wyoming two things: her daughter, Jake's twin, and her livelihood, the jewelry she etches with symbols of Indian legend.
Thirteen years later, Wyoming wants more. Sage, now sixteen, has run away, and Daisy fears that Sage's thirst to see the land and father of her dreams is driving her westward on freight trains and farm roads. Terrified, her mother flies out to where James Tucker rides the range with a heart turned to stone, still scouring the canyons for Jake. Wary of each other, Daisy and James wait and pray for the safe arrival of their one remaining child. And they'll need all the strength and wisdom they can find, to learn that you cannot close the door on the past. In fact, sometimes, if you're willing to step through it, that door to the past can lead you home.
Synopsis
It was just an argument, one of hundreds Daisy Tucker must have had with her teenage daughter, Sage, over the years. But this one had ended differently, with Sage gone from their Connecticut home the next morning, leaving behind only a brief note: “I have to go.” Daisy tried not to overreact, tried to remind herself this was different from what had happened thirteen years earlier to Sage’s twin brother, Jake. This was different from a three-year-old boy disappearing in the canyons of Wyoming, never to be found. Sage was sixteen and resourceful. She would be found.
Years ago Daisy had traveled to Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains in search of inspiration for her art and had found a man with the wilderness inside him. James Tucker was a rancher, bound to the wild land he loved, and together he and Daisy created a small paradise for their family—until the day their little boy vanished without a trace. Now, as their daughter makes a dangerous cross-country pilgrimage to the father she longs for, Daisy will return to the place that took everything she had....
Filled with a wild and unpredictable beauty, Dream Country is a novel you’ll never want to end—even as you can’t wait to finish it.
Publishers Weekly
A compelling plot and nuanced character portrayals contribute to the emotional impact of Rice's ninth novel, a transcendent story about the power of hope and family love. Daisy Tucker has built a comfortable life with her 16-year-old daughter, Sage, in Silver Bay, Conn., where she has gained a reputation for designing jewelry that seems to have inspirational powers. Combining artistry with her knowledge of Native American myths and legends, Daisy creates pieces that bring people together, heal wounds and serve as talismans. But no combination of gemstones and carved animal bones can assuage the pain in Daisy's life. Sage's twin brother, Jake, disappeared in the wild country of Wyoming during a cattle roundup 13 years ago, when he was three. Fleeing the scene of tragedy with her daughter, Daisy left her husband, James, behind at his family cattle ranch and moved to New England to be close to her sister, Hathaway. Now Daisy faces another crisis when a pregnant Sage runs away with her boyfriend, Ben, intent on a new life with her father at the ranch. Ben has second thoughts and decides to return home, so Sage heads on alone. Hitchhiking leads to danger, and a mysterious, tattooed teenager rescues Sage and agrees to drive her to Wyoming. Daisy joins James in Wyoming, where another teenager, calling himself "The Guardian," is stalking the ranch. Rice (Cloud Nine) creates believable dramatic tension about Jake's true fate, though the suspense lies mainly in whether the other characters will realize what has become of him. Though she overdoes the sentimentality, her fans always welcome the family values her stories celebrate. Author tour. (Jan. 30) Forecast: Among writers of women's fiction, Rice has a loyal following based on her ability to place realistic characters in atmospheric backgrounds and crisis situations. Cloud Nine became a bestseller in paperback. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.