{"title":"Amanda Dykes","description":"Amanda Dykes, a former English teacher, is a drinker of tea, dweller of redemption, and spinner of hope-filled tales. Her novella, Bespoke: A Tiny Christmas Tale, was met with critical acclaim from Publishers Weekly, Readers' Favorite, and more. Whose Waves These Are is her debut novel. Find her online at www.amandadykes.com.","products":[{"product_id":"whose-waves-these-are-paperback","title":"Whose Waves These Are - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2020 Christy Award Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eIn the wake of WWII, a grieving fisherman submits a poem to a local newspaper: a rallying cry for hope, purpose . . . and rocks. \u003ci\u003eSend me a rock for the person you lost, and I will build something life-giving\u003c\/i\u003e. 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDecades 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2020 Christy Award Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An absolute gem of a debut! \u003ci\u003eWhose Waves These Are\u003c\/i\u003e transcends to the highest level of fiction.\"--\u003cb\u003eJoanne Bischof\u003c\/b\u003e, Christy and Carol Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eSons of Blackbird Mountain\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the wake of WWII, a grieving fisherman submits a poem to a local newspaper: a rallying cry for hope, purpose . . . and rocks. Its message? 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 harbor village on the coast of Maine, and he sets his callused hands to work.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eDecades later, Annie Bliss is summoned back to Ansel-by-the-Sea when GrandBob, the man who gave her refuge during the hardest summer of her youth, is the one in need of help. But what greets her is a mystery: a wall of heavy boxes hiding in his home. Memories of stone ruins on a nearby island ignite a fire in her anthropologist soul to uncover answers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTogether with the handsome and enigmatic town postman, Annie uncovers the story layer by layer, yearning to resurrect the hope GrandBob once held so dear and to know the truth behind the chasm in her family's past. But mending what has been broken for so long may require more of her and those she loves than they are prepared to give.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIn this pocket of a harbor where splintered lives, like waves upon the shore, are gathered up and held close . . . I never imagined that it would be my breaking place, too.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNor how beautiful the breaking could be.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Family members reconnect over an incomplete WWII memorial in Dykes' tender debut. . . . With its believable characters and narrative of atonement, Dykes's impressive debut will appeal to fans of Sarah Sundin or Kate Breslin.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Publishers Weekly\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"In her stellar debut, Dykes crafts a moving and quietly adventurous romance that is steeped in subtle beauty. She links two time frames and the heart-wrenching events of 1944 and 2001 with the maxim, 'Life is big, God is bigger.' The result is a poetic tale of grief, honor, memory, and love that is full of characters readers will long to know and, at the same time, feel as though they already do. Dykes' inspiring story tracks one person's journey to not only find the light in the world, but to fight for it.\"--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The story is well-paced with believable characters that leap off the pages. The author has seamlessly woven specific details about the Fresnel lenses of lighthouses, the reader understand the uniqueness of these coastal beacons. Highly recommended.\"--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHistorical Novels Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50101542453471,"sku":"9780764232664","price":24.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/tLwF4sEnXL9780764232664.webp?v=1781071689"},{"product_id":"all-the-lost-places-paperback","title":"All the Lost Places - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen a baby is discovered floating in a basket along the canals of 1807 Venice, a guild of artisans takes him in and raises him as a son, skilled in each of their trades. Although the boy, Sebastien Trovato, has wrestled with questions of his origins, it isn't until a woman washes ashore his lagoon island that answers begin to emerge. In hunting down his story, Sebastien must make choices that could alter not just his own future, but that of the beloved floating city. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDecades later, \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eDaniel Goodman is given a fresh start in life as the century turns. Hoping to redeem a past laden in regrets, he is sent on an assignment from California to Venice to procure and translate a rare book. There, he discovers a mystery wrapped in the pages of that filigree-covered volume. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries carefully kept within the stones and canals of the ancient city . . . and the mystery of the man whose story the book does not finish: Sebastien Trovato.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhen all of Venice is unmasked, one man's identity remains a mystery . . . \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e1807\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eWhen a baby is discovered floating in a basket along the quiet canals of Venice, a guild of artisans takes him in and raises him as a son, skilled in each of their trades. Although the boy, Sebastien Trovato, has wrestled with questions of his origins, it isn't until a woman washes ashore on his lagoon island that answers begin to emerge. In hunting down his story, Sebastien must make a choice that could alter not just his own future, but also that of the beloved floating city.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e1904\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eDaniel Goodman is given a fresh start in life as the century turns. Hoping to redeem a past laden with regrets, he is sent on an assignment from California to Venice to procure and translate a rare book. There, he discovers a city of colliding hope and decay, much like his own life, and a mystery wrapped in the pages of that filigree-covered volume. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries carefully kept within the stones and canals of the ancient city . . . and in the mystery of the man whose story the book does not finish: Sebastien Trovato.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eIntrospective, surprising, and achingly beautiful.\"--\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist \u003c\/i\u003estarred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Dykes's pen is fused with magic and poetry. Every word's a gentle wave building into the splendor that is All the Lost Places, where struggles for identity and a place to belong find hope between the pages of a timeless story.\"\u003c\/b\u003e--J'NELL CIESIELSKI, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Socialite\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Luscious writing, authentic characters, and an ending that satisfies to the core of the spirit, this novel is another winner from Amanda Dykes.\"\u003c\/b\u003e--HEIDI CHIAVAROLI, Carol Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eFreedom's Ring\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHope Beyond the Waves\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50101641445599,"sku":"9780764239502","price":25.65,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/mt0UalJ0lj9780764239502.webp?v=1781071880"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/amanda-dykes.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}