Wednesday 10 February 2016

Review: What the Waves Know by Tamara Valentine


In the tradition of Sue Monk Kidd and Beth Hoffman comes a compelling debut novel about a young woman's quest to find herself—and her voice—on the island where she lost both

The tiny state of Rhode Island is home to even tinier Tillings Island—which witnessed the biggest event of Izabella Rae Haywood's life. For it was there, on Iz's sixth birthday, that her father left...and took her voice with him.

Eight years later in the summer of 1974, Iz’s mother is through with social workers, psychiatrists and her daughter's silence. In one last attempt to return Iz’s voice, the motley pair board the ferry to Tillings in hopes that the journey will help Izabella heal herself by piecing together splintered memories of the day her words fled.

But heartbreak is a difficult puzzle to solve, and everyone in Tillings seems to know something Iz does not. Worse, each has an opinion about Izabella's dreamer of a father, the undercurrents of whose actions have spun so many lives off course.

Now, as the island's annual Yemayá festival prepares to celebrate the ties that bind mothers to children, lovers to each other, and humankind to the sea, Izabella must unravel the tangled threads of her own history and reclaim a voice gone silent…or risk losing herself—and any chance she may have for a future—to the past.

What the Waves Know is a moving, magical novel that asks us to consider the stories which tell the truth and the stories we tell ourselves

Paperback, 352 pages
Expected publication: February 9th 2016 by William Morrow Paperbacks

Terri's Thoughts

I received a copy of this book from the publisher William Morrow Paperbacks in exchange for an honest review.  It was just released yesterday.

This is a story for those who like to see a coming of age/overcoming a trauma.  It follows Izabella as she struggles with her past and her fathers disappearance.  It highlights her guilt.

While not a fast moving story, it was touching with all of the characters coming together.  All unique and a little odd in their own way, it showed Izabella that she was not alone.

If you can handle a story that moves at a slow pace, this may be of interest.



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