Whose Waves These Are – Amanda Dykes – Whose Waves These Are #1 – Bethany House Publishers – Published 30 April 2019

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Synopsis

In the wake of WWII, a grieving fisherman submits a poem to a local newspaper asking readers to send rocks in honor of loved ones to create something life-giving but the building halts when tragedy strikes. Decades later, Annie returns to the coastal Maine town where stone ruins spark her curiosity and her search for answers faces a battle against time.

My thoughts

Simply stunning. Whose Waves These Are, with its beautifully descriptive and emotive writing style, characters who are brave, relatable, and so very loveable and story of family, love, loss and miraculous reunions, drew me in and refused to let go. Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time, Whose Waves These Are is so very beautiful and a book that is simply a delight to read.

When Annie learns that her beloved grand-uncle Bob has fallen ill, she drops everything to return to Ansel-By-The-Sea to be there for him as he was for her in the time she most needed someone to understand and care for her when she was just a girl. As Annie learns what befell her uncle, reunites with the townsfolk and meets the standoffish newcomer, Jeremiah, she also learns of a story of loss and love that her uncle has guarded for years. Annie is determined to uncover the story and in doing so reveals not only the secrets of the past but a chance for reconciliation in the present.

Amanda Dykes crafts words with care and beauty. The writing in Whose Waves These Are is emotive and descriptive. It deserves the reader’s full attention and I found myself completely immersed in the story. The book contains chapters from the mid 1940s and early 2000s, split into sections and woven together. The way the two sections reflect and loop into the other, bringing to life the story both past and present and with some surprising reveals, is magic.

This is a powerful story of family and love, set against the hardest of losses and grief of wars and forced separation. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Whose Waves These Are is an ode to community and friendship, the bond between brothers, the love between man and woman, and the relationship between parents and child – broken and healed again. Honestly, I simply do not have the words to convey the magic of this book, the way it stole into my heart, and had me crying tears of grief and joy at the end and rejoicing in a story that has its own soul.

I can very highly recommend Whose Waves These Are. It is a beautiful and delightful story.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own..

More information

Category: Adult fiction

Genre: Christian – contemporary, historical.

Themes: War, family, WWII, reconciliation, grief, loss, death, children, community, relationships, secrets, building, letters, romance.

Published: 30 April 2019 by Bethany House Published.

Format: Hardcover, paperback, ebook. 368 pages.

ISBN: 9780764234132

Find it on Goodreads