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