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Both John and Honor Sullivan are artists --- John creates massive sculptures from nature and then photographs his fleeting work that nature will soon rearrange and destroy, and Honor paints landscapes and portraits in oils. While working in Ireland John crosses paths with a troubled drifter; a fateful confrontation between them causes a tragedy that eventually threatens to destroy the entire Sullivan family.
John is a stubborn and passionate risk taker with a dark brooding side. Honor wants to keep the family, especially their three daughters, safe and intact at any cost. But John continually puts himself in harm's way while creating his earthscapes. Because he is often absent from home, Honor tries to provide the security she craves for her children. The oldest daughter, Regis, has inherited her father's sense of recklessness. The middle daughter, Agnes, wants to be like her aunt, Sister Bernadette, who once experienced a vision that sealed her fate. And youngest daughter Cecilia just wants to be included in whatever her sisters are doing; she is too young to understand the family dynamics that have been impacted by her father's lengthy imprisonment.
John went to Ireland to connect spiritually and physically with the land of his ancestors. There he labored on a huge sculpture at the edge of steep cliffs that faced the sea. He hired a drifter named Greg to assist him with the difficult physical work. Greg wanted more work than John could offer and thus vandalized the sculpture; in anger, John threatened his life in front of witnesses. Later, there was a confrontation at the edge of the cliff. Greg was killed and John, who was charged with the murder, offered absolutely no defense and was imprisoned for six years. Honor was perplexed and dismayed that John refused to offer any defense against the charges.
While John spends six years languishing in an Irish prison, Honor and the girls return to America, to the peaceful convent grounds at the Star of the Sea Academy in Connecticut where Honor teaches art. The six years move rather slowly and the whole family suffers, each in her own way, without John's presence and love. Regis, now 20, has just become engaged to the son of well-to-do summer residents. Agnes seems to think that she has psychic powers and tries to will herself to have visions. Honor is upset that Regis might abandon her studies to marry just for the sake of security.
Without notifying Honor, John returns to the family's hometown and is secretly watching them; Honor and the girls have no idea that he is so nearby --- they assume he's still in prison. He resurfaces because he wants to attend the upcoming wedding. Honor is torn between her love for John and her desire to maintain what has become a peaceful though unhappy existence without him. The girls all want their father to rejoin the family and cannot understand Honor's reluctance to welcome him back with open arms. John's sister, the nun, is dealing with past regrets, and when a young man befriends Agnes, Sister Bernadette and her former lover Tom are forced to come to terms with the past.
SANDCASTLES is about family --- how strong the ties that bind families are, as well as how fragile those ties can become if honest communication does not take place. It also deals with the healing of painful memories and the importance of forgiveness.
--- Reviewed by Carole Turner
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