Review: Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes

My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing

Synopsis

In the wake of WWII, a grieving fisherman submits a poem to a local newspaper: a rallying cry for hope, purpose . . . and rocks. Send me a rock for the person you lost, and I will build something life-giving. When the poem spreads farther than he ever intended, Robert Bliss's humble words change the tide of a nation. Boxes of rocks inundate the tiny, coastal Maine town, and he sets his calloused hands to work, but the building halts when tragedy strikes.

Decades later, Annie Sawyer is summoned back to Ansel-by-the-Sea when she learns her Great-Uncle Robert, the man who became her refuge during the hardest summer of her youth, is now the one in need of help. What she didn't anticipate was finding a wall of heavy boxes hiding in his home. Long-ago memories of stone ruins on a nearby island trigger her curiosity, igniting a fire in her anthropologist soul to uncover answers.

She joins forces with the handsome and mysterious harbor postman, and all her hopes of mending the decades-old chasm in her family seem to point back to the ruins. But with Robert failing fast, her search for answers battles against time, a foe as relentless as the ever-crashing waves upon the sea.

My Review

The first word I thought of to describe the vibe of this book is otherworldly. Not in a sci-fi way, but in a beautiful hazy way like waking up and remembering what you just dreamed. The historical and contemporary stories are woven together and draw curiosity out of the reader as layers of the plot and characters are revealed and new questions arise. There is heartbreak that is inevitable from the war-time era, but healing and growth as well. The strength of Robert, Roy, their family, and the community members of Ansel is evident and I felt like Annie- like I don't quite belong but I want to because it feels like home. Her journey of discovery is lovely as her heart turns more fully to her family and really knowing them and what drives them, their motivations, their past. I loved the way the elements of the story worked together to bring a satisfying conclusion to the book.

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

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Synopsis

When Savannah Mae Thorpe visits her family in New England, she learns the future of the land she's inherited is in question. She finds help from a local lumberjack--who holds a shadowed past of his own--to discover the truth of a local legend and save her land. But her expedition may have unexpected ramifications on her life--and the lives of those around her.