YOURS IS THE NIGHT by Amanda Dykes ~ a stellar read. 5-star review

Posted on July 26, 2021 by marykaymoody

A mysterious song in the forest . . .
A discovery in war-torn France . . .
A journey toward hope.
The trenches of the Great War are a shadowed place. Though Platoon Sergeant Matthew Petticrew arrived there with a past long marked by shadow, the realities of battle bring new wounds–carving within him a longing for light, and a resolve to fight for it.

One night, Matthew and his comrades are enraptured by a sound so pure, a voice so ethereal, it offers reprieve–even if only for a moment. Soon, rumors sweep the trenches from others who have heard the lullaby too. “The Angel of Argonne,” they call the voice: a mysterious presence who leaves behind wreaths on unmarked graves.

Raised in the wild depths of the Forest of Argonne, Mireilles finds her reclusive world rocked when war crashes into her idyllic home, taking much from her. When Matthew and his two unlikely companions discover Mireilles, they must embark on a journey that will change each of them forever . . . and perhaps, at long last, spark light into the dark.

[back cover copy]

Trench Art of WW I

Yours is the Night, latest book by Amanda Dykes, is set against the dark days of World War I but it’s an amazing book that shimmers with courageous souls, generous hearts, noble spirits, and the fight for light. A reader might have concern about reading a tale set during World War I, especially since Amanda is known for bringing characters and settings to life. I’ve read many books set in wartime. A few I’ve stopped reading. Some I gritted my way through but felt assaulted in the reading. Amanda is almost unique in her ability to keep the story real while finding and focusing on glints of light and life that not only balance out intense images of battle but make the tale a thing of hope and beauty.

She fills her cast with characters from diverse backgrounds ~ a New York horse farm, Oxford University, a woodland cabin. And I’ve fallen in love with every one of our band of travelers. Each is unique, totally likeable, and has no intention of joining the war. But as we journey with them, each is impacted by some aspect of the conflict and must deal with it or be crushed by it.

As I’ve mentioned in reviewing Amanda’s previous books, she writes delightful, lyrical tales with beauty and tender understanding of the broken places in a person. She writes of the impact of choices and how consequences echo into the future. And always, the fight for light and The Light. This book continues that lovely, powerful writing filled with imagery, symbolism, and surprises. I’ll share just a sample.

…a flock of sheep bleated, eating grass like all was as normal as could be …. The scene sliced clean away when I blinked, that green grass flashing into colorless dirt, the blue sky swallowed up by dark. How long, I wondered, would memory keep doing this? Showing up and slashing into the present? [p 141]

This country so deeply scarred by trenches and terror is beginning to feel its wounds stitched together by Allied forces … victory by victory. [p. 174]

The sticks and curves and letters arranged themselves into words that shattered my world. [p. 205]

… Characteristics that stuck out like odd limbs on a person bumbling through the corridors of life, until he found that they weren’t odd limbs at all, but rather the carefully crafted shape of himself, molded to fit like a puzzle piece into this moment. [p. 257]

At times, writing a book review is difficult because a so-so story or cliché characters don’t inspire. But writing a review for this one is difficult because the story is so good that my words fall so very short of conveying the beauty, the power…the light & joy the author has infused into it. I heartily recommend Yours is the Night for a stellar read (and re-read). Join the journey through fear and fog of war, yearning for life and love and peace, and most of all discovery. Who knows? You may, like me, even want to begin carrying a box of matches with you.

Trench Art photo credit: http://www.trenchartofww1.co.uk/images/Lights_Out_Candle_2014.JPG?298

Some links to sources for a copy of Yours is the Night if you’re so inclined:

Baker Book House (pre-order special through 8/2/21: 40% off + free shipping + free gift while supplies) last): https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/260758

Christianbook.com: https://www.christianbook.com/…/9780764232688/pd/232681…

Bookshop.org (Supports independent bookstores) https://bookshop.org/books/yours-is-the-night/9780764232688

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/…/yours-is…/1137897809…

Wal-Mart: https://www.walmart.com/…/Yours-is-the-Night…/683442923

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764232681

Books-a-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/…/Amanda-Dykes/9780764232688

Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780764232688

SET THE STARS ALIGHT by Amanda Dykes~Prepare to be Carried Away! 5-star Review

Posted on June 22, 2020 by marykaymoody

In an aged brick cottage in London, the magic of the past comes alive each night for the family of a humble watchmaker. In her father’s fireside stories, Lucy Claremont’s fascination with the high seas begins, leading her to devote her life’s work to discovering the whereabouts of a legendary lost ship. But when tragedy strikes, it’s childhood friend Dashel and his knowledge of the stars that may help her solve the puzzle.

Two hundred years earlier, three young lives are altered forever when a shepherd rescues the privileged son of a powerful admiral. As the children grow, war leads to unthinkable heartbreak, deep love, and a story of betrayal, sacrifice, and redemption that fades into obscurity as centuries pass.

As Lucy and Dash explore mysterious ruins on the East Sussex coast, their search leads them to a community of souls and a long-hidden tale that may hold the answers–and the healing–they so desperately seek. [back cover]

In SET THE STARS ALIGHT Amanda Dykes has penned a story that captivates completely from page one. I couldn’t have been more absorbed if I watched the tale unfurl while flying over it with Peter Pan.

Settings come alive with Amanda’s use of specific, sensory details. Whether an ancient, sooty match factory or a wireless, fairy-tale-like farm ~ the reader is there, hearing the song of the bells and feeling the breeze, tasting the flavors it carries. Amanda’s poetic, lyrical writing evokes memories of fables and fairy tales, enticing readers to ignore the thrum of our frenetic planet, and fall into life with Lucy and Dash.

Characters are so well developed, that it takes no time at all to bond with them. To feel the excitement when Papa begins a riddle or a story. Or the breath-stealing, carved-out realization that a loved one is … gone.

And though this book is only the second of Amanda’s published novels, she’s already a master not only at spinning stories, but balancing the mechanics of producing a dual-time book. Like the storytellers in this yarn, Amanda sprinkles clues to links between the two timelines. And the story flows unimpeded even when she switches between the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries. I dare say, no reader will have to flip back to an earlier chapter to reconnect with a storyline in order to move ahead.

Amanda displays great skill in story craft, but SET THE STARS ALIGHT is so much more than the sum of these skills. This story is art. Magic. Delightful. Full of imagery, symbolism, and surprises! The intriguing characters—on quests for belonging, truth, love, forgiveness, lost things, or answers to mysteries—deliver us to wonder and light. And to the reward of learning that everyone’s actions reverberate through time. That every single life matters. The journey introduces us to The Maker of Wonder, Light Himself.

I could fill pages with favorite quotes. (I nearly wore out the yellow marker!) But lest I rob you of the joy of discovering your own, I include below just a few. An appetizer if you will. This gem of a story will satisfy on every level.

“When things seem dark, Lucy, that’s when you fight for the light.” p 21

For who were they to one another now? A shadow. An outline. A question mark. p 67

The woman … gave the impression that she’d been born and raised in a confectioner’s shop and trailed a dusting of sweetness wherever she went. p 73

“Looks as if he ate anger for breakfast.” p 79

“I wonder if it’s even possible to overestimate the significance of a single life … Words spoken, hearts changed, a meal provided to a hungry sojourner, who knows? Who knows how far everyday actions reach?” p 196

As if every moment between then and now had been leading up to this, the homecoming of their hands. p 178

[image credit: Peter Pan, disney; couple by Vecteezy]

SET THE STARS ALIGHT releases June 30, 2020. I’m blessed to have read an early copy from NetGalley for review. Usually I don’t find the e-versions of a book nearly as engaging as paper. But STARS knocked that problem to the curb! This is a 5-star recommendation. I feel my words don’t to this fabulous story justice!

You can meet Amanda on social media, where she likes to hang out and talk about wondrous things. So visit her on Instagram or Facebook if you want to learn more about this amazing author.

Links to some places you can purchase SET THE STARS ALIGHT if you’re so inclined. And a word from Amanda: Available in Paperback, Audiobook, and Hardcover. May we encourage you to support an independent and/or local bookstore with this purchase? Even one book can help these cherished stores regain their footing amid the COVID-19 circumstances. Thank you, fellow bookstore lovers!

Baker Book House

Indiebound (Find a bookstore local to you.)

Christianbook

Powell’s

Barnes & Noble

Walmart (paperback link)

Captivating Story ~ WHOSE WAVES THESE ARE By Amanda Dykes Book Review

Posted on April 30, 2019 by marykaymoody

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 Bliss 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. [from back cover]

In Whose Waves These Are Amanda Dykes has constructed the woodsy seaside village of Ansel-by-the-Sea so clearly we can see the wind-pushed ripples and waves, smell the wood smoke, and hear the silvery sound of DIY wind chimes.

Ansel is a place where God’s presence and provision hovers over the residents like the fog hovers over the coast, and gossip is shunned but residents are not. Each one’s well-being is valued by the townsfolk who see beyond behavior and into a person’s heart, needs, and broken spots—which are handled respectfully and tenderly. Ansel residents help each other find ways to stitch together the rent pieces. In short, it’s a place anyone would like to live in.

The characters ring true as we accompany them on the journey of living and losing, finding and forgiving, heartbreak and reconciliation; learning the importance of each decision made, each step taken, and the impact of the consequences. Because a person chooses his actions but not his consequences. And make no mistake—there will be consequences.

Whose Waves These Are is a dual-time story. For those put off by dual-time stories, there’s no need to avoid this one. Dykes has mastered the techniques, and this story slips from World War II era and contemporary smoothly. It’s the easiest to follow of the many dual-time stories I’ve read.

Dykes tells this tale in a lovely, lyrical style. And displays a keen understanding of loss, pain, grief, guilt; and the courage required to make peace with them and move into hope and living again. A few quotes serve to prove my point—and whet your appetite.

“If everything around you is broken, it’s time to unbreak something.” [p 75]

[Annie arrives at her uncle’s home after a twenty-year absence] “A step inside feels like she’s trespassing, the house assessing her every step as if to say Who … are you …?” [p 60]

“She’s learning that this guy is never in a hurry. Whatever he’s thinking, he gives it time to be thought.” [p 92]

[conversation Robert observes about a man missing after World War II]“Your husband,” Eva says gently. “He hasn’t returned … yet?” Her wording is hopeful but gentle and Robert wants to kiss her for it. He would have blundered that question a thousand ways. [p240]

“Fire dimming … He drops to his knees, grips earth, grips jagged hope.” [p 348]

Themes of brokenness and mending, hope, purpose, and light are woven through the stories of these realistic, flawed characters as they struggle and prevail. The journey through this story is thought-provoking and light-filled; a trip you’ll want to repeat with a second and third read. Whose Waves These Are is a captivating story that is sure to become a classic. I heartily recommend this glorious story.

You can meet Amanda on her website here and share all sorts of beauty and bookish things. You’ll also find links to her other cyber-spaces.

I thank Baker Publishing Group for a free review copy of this book. I was under no requirement to write a positive review.

Photo credits: Mary Kay Moody

Mary Kay Moody

Writing at the Intersection of Our Plans and God's Purpose

Tag Archives: light

YOURS IS THE NIGHT by Amanda Dykes ~ a stellar read. 5-star review

SET THE STARS ALIGHT by Amanda Dykes~Prepare to be Carried Away! 5-star Review

Captivating Story ~ WHOSE WAVES THESE ARE By Amanda Dykes Book Review