Amanda Dykes

This novella by Amanda Dykes is an origin story for her novel, Whose Waves These Are (which I haven't read... yet). This one is a quick read and, since it is so short, there is not as much room for character development as in longer works, but the story is intriguing all the same. In 1920s New England, Nineteen-year-old Savannah Mae Thorpe of Georgia has lost both her parents and is currently living in Maine with her mother’s sister Fern and Fern's family. Savannah has inherited quite a bit of land and lumber from her mother's holdings in Maine, but it is all controlled by her Uncle Albert (Fern's husband) until Savannah reaches the age of 21 and Albert is set on selling the land and investing the money in stocks. Savannah wants to find a way to prevent this from happening. A 150-year-old legend Savannah remembers her mother telling her regarding this mountainous land in Maine - about towering pines, a castle, a young woman, a mysterious box containing secrets, an atonement tree, a watcher in the woods, and a whispered, "Forgive me," all figure into the story. Savannah’s quest to discover the truth sends her and a local lumberjack, Alastair Bliss, on an adventure unearthing early American historical artifacts and information. By the way, right now (May 16, 2023), this novella is free for Kindle. Just saying.… (mehr)

I gave up on this one about 85 pages in. I loved the beautiful cover and the premise of the book sounded really interesting. It was just really slow to set up the story and the writing was starting to get to me. "A thousand questions rolled through her like an unseen avalanche." "But hearing him say he'd known and hadn't come scooped out a hollowness in her." I find these types of phrases a bit distracting when I'm reading. I was really looking forward to this book and was disappointed that I couldn't really get into it.… (mehr)