Praise for Cordelia Strube "Strube captures a madcap sense of momentum and consequence that never falters or overwhelms." -- Publishers Weekly , starred review "A masterful blend of comedy and tragedy . The tapestry of humanity that Strube presents is richly detailed and profoundly moving." -- Quill & Quire , starred review Award-winning novelist Cordelia Strube's latest, At Sea in a Sieve , is a sharp and moving portrait of Ray, a single mother and superior court judge, who pounds a punching bag in her basement to manage her anger. Experience has taught her that life must be meticulously planned or chaos will move in. Her prime directive is to protect her daughter, Armada, from life's unruly forces. Ray deftly handles other people's problems, managing her courtroom and the politics of the judges' chambers, and defusing her neighbours' battles, all the while staying above the fray. But when her feckless, sweet brother re-enters Ray's life, bringing unpredictability and wayward emotion with him, and her sexy but enervating Guatemalan ex crashes into her world, she realizes that her carefully piloted ship is not watertight after all--it's no better than a sieve.

Cascading events reveal to Ray that suffering cannot be held at bay and that life must be lived in all its messy glory. Peopled with a cast of characters for the ages, from the eccentrics that surround Ray's courtroom and her home to a flock of recalcitrant hens, and laden with her trademark sly wit, this is Strube's best novel yet--sharp, intensely humane, moving, and funny.