Whose Waves These Are ~ Review

Whose Waves These Are
By Amanda Dykes

Whose Waves These Are is a story that is split between times as the reader is introduced to the Bliss family and the complexities of their relationship with each other. Bob and Roy were twins who called Ansel-by-the-Sea, Maine, home - they were as close as two brothers could be until the war drew them apart forever. In the wake of this sorrow, Bob has to come to terms with the grief he feels. But how do you honor the life of someone so dear to you? Bob writes a poem that expresses all that he feels and finds that it touches the hearts around him much like a stone tossed into a pond with ripples that went farther than he had imagined possible.

Nearly 60 years have passed when Ann Bliss receives word that a return to Ansel and the home she knew for a few short months is needed. Worried about what has happened to her Uncle Bob whom she has always lovingly called GrandBob Ann is about to once again become Bob's Annie. 

But while Annie waits to see if her uncle recovers she stumbles over something that has her wondering about her uncle and just why he has boxes of rocks hidden away in his house. There is a mystery here and she is determined to learn the truth behind it. But how do you learn about a past that you should be all rights be aware of? Annie is going to put her skills to the test to uncover the past of her own family a past that has been marred by pain, grief, and misunderstanding. But to overcome her own misgivings about her abilities she'll need the help of those who not only call Ansel home but have best known GrandBob over the years.

This is a lovely read that takes the reader on a journey that goes from 1944 to 2002. The story mainly takes place in Maine and slowly reveals story by story the lives of the Bliss family. I think the first line of the book sets the stage for what is to come - "Every wave in that big old sea is a story." And as these waves break the stories unfold around those who are willing and able to hear the breaking.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by the publisher with no expectation but that I offer my honest opinion - all thoughts expressed are my own.


About the Book:
In the wake of WWII, a grieving fisherman submits a poem to a local newspaper asking readers to send rocks in honor of loved ones to create something life-giving—but the building halts when tragedy strikes. Decades later, Annie returns to the coastal Maine town where stone ruins spark her curiosity and her search for answers faces a battle against time... 

 Free e-Novella
Up From the Sea, a free ebook novella, set in 1920s-era Maine. 


Deep in a New England forest, an ancient tree stands at the center of a tale passed down through generations. So much so, that the residents of Ansel-by-the-Sea, Maine, no longer know what is truth and what is fable. A woman fleeing in the night, rumors of treason, revolution, retribution . . .


When Savannah Mae Thorpe, born and raised near the golden sands of the South, arrives with a version of the story unlike any heard before, she finds herself the unlikely leader of an expedition into the woods to discover the truth. With help from local lumberjack Alastair Bliss, who holds a shadowed past of his own, her search to discover the truth of the Atonement Tree may have unexpected ramifications on her life—and the lives of those around her.

A tale of origins, this novella is a complete story but also tells of the legacy inherited by Robert Bliss, the fisherman-poet hero of the full-length novel, Whose Waves These Are.

Up from the Sea by Amanda Dykes