Sandra Rodriguez Barron

In the aftermath of a hurricane, a luxury boat docks at an unused, unfinished marina in Puerto Rico. A blond woman and three Latino men slip off the boat unnoticed. When the boat is discovered by authorities, there are five babies and toddlers on board. The abandoned children are wearing beautiful clothing and look well cared for. An investigation is launched into the children's origins but no one ever comes forward to claim them. Each of them is eventually adopted into their own family but show more they retain a sense of family with each other, the Starfish Children, so named because of the faint green drawing of a starfish on each tiny hand. Despite the fact that they have no knowledge of their biological family and that they grew up in different families far apart, David, Taina, Holly, Adrian, and Raymond consider themselves siblings. So when David, now in his early thirties, is diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive type of brain cancer, the group cannot say no to his desire that they all reunite at his ex-girlfriend Julia's family cottage on one of the Thimble Islands off the coast of Connecticut.

What none of the others know is that David's tumor has started causing him to have flashbacks to the time before the hurricane and he wants them to dig into their past and finally know the truth about their origins. David wants to give each of them a solid history like the one that Julia, his ex-girlfriend and the woman he is determined to marry, has. Each of the Starfish Children has emotional baggage as a result of their unknown past and as David faces his own mortality, he needs to help everyone confront the demons. Taina is married to a stockbroker turned detective but her fear of intimacy is driving them towards a divorce regardless of how much her husband wants to save their marriage. Holly is married with three young boys but she can't stop the ache she feels at her lack of a daughter, especially one who looks like her rather than like her husband and red-headed sons. Adrian is a rising singing star who bounces from woman to woman, making certain that no one gets too close or too needy. Raymond is a cook who battles alcoholism and a rather lonely existence. David is a naturalist who loves the out of doors but who lost Julia after a six-year live-in relationship because he was unable to take the next step into marriage.

As David fights against his cancer, he pulls his struggling siblings to his heart, counting on the fact that despite their issues with others, they have such a deep connection to each other that they will reunite for a week of enforced family togetherness in the magic that is Julia's family home. And he is partially right. As the distant and historical past swirls around them in the Griswold home, more than just a curiousity about their shared past comes to the fore and there are manifestations of the dysfunctions that populate all families.

The narration is shared between characters and an omniscient narrator who focuses in turn on the different siblings in the course not only of the week in Connecticut but also through David's battle with cancer and on their home lives. This truly fills the novel with an ensemble cast. David and Julia, as the two characters most fully invested in David's care, are the most completely developed and central to the plot but each of the characters is individual, well-rounded, and real. The mystery of the origins of the siblings is interesting but not the only thing that drives the plot and keeps the reader turning the pages. Wanting to know if the siblings can maintain their family relationship in the face of the truth's potential and the devastation of David's prognosis is even more engaging. The last couple of chapters are simply beautifully written. Relationships, the family we make, the importance of history, and the power of love are all important themes here. This was a lovely read. show less

I enjoy this type of novel--getting to know an entire 'family' and the dynamics of their relationships. The background story is fairly unique--5 orphans abandoned, their parentage remaining unknown, but maintaining their close-knit 'family' regardless of shared genes. Each of the 5 children have their own issues to deal with, on top of the realization that 1 of them is dying. They battle with the dilemma of whether they should investigate their past or be happy with their naturally-formed show more family bond. They have lived 30+ years not knowing if there was any blood relation between them, will a DNA test change any of that? I truly enjoyed the read and getting to know the characters, leaving me wanting to continue following the family and see how they do in the future. show less

If the blurb for this book had been different, I might have enjoyed it more. Instead, it made me expect something the book was not particularly interested in delivering. "Thirty years ago, five toddlers were found alone in a luxury boat...after a devastating hurricane. No one knew who they were or where they came from." One of them gets cancer which triggers flashbacks of before they were found and he wants to figure out where they came from, so he gets them all together at his show more ex-girlfriend's house to figure it out. Now, from that information, I expected for the book to be a description of their investigation, with clues revealed along the way that prompt some kind of emotional catharsis. Instead, the narrative mainly focuses on David's diagnosis with cancer, his lame attempts to get his ex-girlfriend back, and everyone's messed-up intimacy issues. No real revelations come until the last 80 pages of the 369-page book; however, and it is only then that the book starts to get interesting. It isn't nearly compelling enough to make up for the time I spent slogging through the first three quarters, but I did read that last part in one sitting, and way, way past my bedtime as well. If you are a fan of emotional drama and family interactions, you might enjoy the whole thing, but if you are more interested in the mystery of the abandoned children, read the prologue and then skip to Part III.
One other note: The book is written in the first person when told from David's perspective, but third person omniscient when focusing on anyone else. From a few of the errors in this ARC, I think the author had originally written the entire thing first person, but alternated narrators. The switching back and forth was probably too jarring, and it was a good call to switch to third, but I could also have done without David's inner musings as well. It doesn't make him any more of a sympathetic character and it's still pretty jarring. show less

Five children, under the age of four, are seemingly abandoned in a boat in Puerto Rico after a hurricane. After being found, though unidentified, each child is placed in a foster home and eventually adopted into separate homes. Thirty years later they reunite on a special vacation and explore issues of love, family, memories and personal histories.

Are they related or not? Should they find out? Does it matter?
The five already have a bond of family among themselves despite their having lived show more separate and very different lives growing up. They suspect they have different parentage, but have no real documented way of finding out. Will the knowledge they may not be related be an excuse for them to drift apart as they try to sort out their adult lives? Or will their unique past be stronger than the ties of blood?

This is a beautifully written book with well developed characters. I found Barron’s style engaging – always pulling me forward. There is a variety of unlikely personalities interwoven in meaningful ways to form a complex story from beginning to end. The ending is complete, and despite some sadness, entirely satisfactory.

“Memory, after all, is a place both the living and the dead can inhabit. Days overlap, laughter commingles, a bottle of scotch is passed around for a century. Memory is a trick whereby a sip of tea can be tasted by seven generations of women sitting in the same chair and drinking from the same cup at the same moment. And when each person’s light is released, it is witnessed, registered, learned from, honored.”

Recommended. show less