Set the Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes

Lucy Clairmont's family treasured the magic of the past, and her childhood fascination with stories of the high seas led her to become a marine archaeologist. But when tragedy strikes, it's Dashel, an American forensic astronomer, and his knowledge of the stars that may help her unearth the truth behind the puzzle she's discovered in her family home.

Two hundred years earlier, the seeds of love are sown between a boy and a girl who spend their days playing in a secret sea cave, while the privileged young son of the estate looks on, wishing to join. As the children grow and war leads to unthinkable heartbreak, a story of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and redemption unfolds, held secret by the passage of time.

As Lucy and Dash journey to a mysterious old estate 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.

Paperback, 352 pages 

Published June 30, 2020

 by Bethany House Publishers

4/5 stars

Amanda Dykes is not a new to me author, I have only read one of her books Whose Waves These Are, which I absolutely loved.

This was an audio read, coming in at 12 1/2 hours and narrated by Shiromi Arserio who is a new to me narrator. Stellar job!

It isn't a secret that I enjoy dual timelines and here was the case again. In current day Lucy Claremont is fascinated with the high seas, she grew up in a story filled world where her father kept her entertained with stories and legends. With riddles that gave a fairy tale feel.

Two hundred years ago a boy named Frederick tells his story of the high seas, a girl named Juliette and a cave.

This was an interesting story spanning years with family time, tragedy, heartache and separation. Connecting the dots to this 2 timelines was intriguing and while usually I like one era more than the other, here I enjoyed both equally.  Set the Stars Alight is a well written, mysterious time in history. The cover speaks volumes of the stars, the sea and the power of the past to heal in the future.

Review: Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes

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.

Paperback, 368 pages

Published April 30th 2019

by Bethany House Publishers

*****

Whose Waves Are These is an intricately woven story that was pictorial with a quaint setting and an interesting cast of characters.

Spanning many decades this book was written in dual time periods that had me captivated with both of them equally, and I’ll admit that isn’t always the case as I usually prefer one over the other.

This is the author’s debut and I was blown away when I found that out. She has a style that had me mesmerized with her attention to detail, everything fit into place and was there for a reason. The story of the rocks was unique and as everything began to click together it just made me love this book all the more. The characters were real and the plot emotional as the war leaves its mark on this little place called Ansel-by-The-Sea.

Whose Waves These Are is not just a story of secrets, heartache, and guilt, but also of forgiveness, hope, and healing. It's an emotional story that had me waiting a day or so before I could begin another book.

I anxiously await more books by Amanda Dykes and highly recommend this one.

Not only is this book part of my 2019 reading off my shelf challenge but also my best of 2019 list.