Whose Waves These Are

GIVEAWAY

DYKES, AMANDA
WHOSE WAVES THESE ARE

In the wake of WWII, a grieving fisherman submits a poem to a local newspaper: a rallying cry for hope, purpose...and rocks. Its message? 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 harbor village on the cehind the eoast of Maine, and he sets his callused hands to work.

Decades later, Annie Bliss is summoned back to Ansel-by-the-Sea when GrandBob, the man who gave her refuge during the hardest summer of her youth, is the one in need of help. But what greets her is a mystery: a wall of heavy boxes hiding in his home. Memories of stone ruins on a nearby island ignite a fire in her anthropologist soul to uncover answers.

Together with the handsome and enigmatic town postman, Annie uncovers the story layer by layer, yearning to resurrect the hope GrandBob once held so dear and to know the truth behind the chasm in her family's past. But mending what has been broken for so long may require more of her and those she loves than they are prepared to give.

My Review:

"Sometimes the best way to love is to choose to let go." (p 108)

Whose Waves These Are defies description. A heart-stomping, sob-wracking, goose-bumping kind of a read. It's left me so tongue-tied and addlepated that I'm grappling for words here. And this is a debut novel! It really does boggle the mind.

First, it's the sheer beauty of the prose. This is the kind of book that begs to be read out loud so that the wordsmithing can be savored. "He's maybe thirty-five, but the look on his face is older, much older. Shadowed and resolute, with a wildness about him. Like someone has anchored the wind and trapped it, chains and all, inside him." (p 46)

Dykes' words conjure up vivid images so raw and real that it hurts. But it's a healing kind of pain. And she brings such reverence to these stories -- two timelines, generations awash in tragedy and hope. And the way they merge into a kaleidoscope of emotional change!

Expert pacing. Brilliant plotting. Characters to adore. This book has it all. Definitely in my top 10 reads this year (and maybe every year!)

"He said it was time to be a part of the unbreaking, of the making of something. He told me there was a Carpenter who was going to build me right up, too." (p 75)

Book provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graft-Martin Communications.Inc.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of  Whose Waves These Are, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday August 31 2019. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!