“The Prayer Box”, the first book in this series, blessed my life. I have to admit, I wasn't as thrilled with “The Story Keeper“ - I just didn't connect with the characters or the 'story within a story'. I became a part of Lisa Wingate's Sisterhood of the Traveling Books group and was given the chance to read an Advanced Reader Copy of "The Sea Keeper's Daughter". Being part of this group of ladies, who read, comment in the margins and pass it among the other readers in the groups-within-a-group (known as 'Sister Circles'), was a thrill. So many of us in the Sister Circle were touched by many of the same parts of the book, but it was also nice to see where the book hit home more with one than another based of each members' own life experiences.
“The Sea Keeper’s Daughters” plot is rich, with characters that come to life. Historical issues are very well-developed - which must require a lot of investigation and deep thought to cover every detail possible.
There’s this amazing connection between present and past, with ancestors speaking through letters… it is all covered in a nice tidy order, to be as realstic as possible.
The main character, Whitney, shares in detail all in her mind and heart, written as a first-person narrative. I enjoyed this as it gave me great insight into who Whitney is. I found that in many ways, I connected with Whitney, seeing many of her traits in myself. There were awesome lessons about life, love, trust and faith.
The subplot, in the form of letters from the past fascinated me. I have kept many old letters from family members that are cherished heirlooms for me. Because of the age of these letter, they seemed to be written in more formal English than what I would expect from someone writing home about adventures, even if those adventures were part of a project to record the history of places and people.
One of my favorite characters in this book was Mark. I think both he and Joel gave this book color, laughter and emotion. And while I wasn't, in the beginning of the story thrilled with Clyde, the curmudgeon step-father, as the story progressed and he softened, he became more likable.
As I mentioned, earlier in this review, as part of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Books, it was fun to see where the other sisters in the Sister Circle found statements that really connected with them. There were many underlined passages, many bracketed sections with fun quips or notations in the margins, and much of this story brought back personal memories for me.
I had several statements in this book that I consider my favorites:
***Chapter 4, page 24: 'If you could know - if you could always know - when the lasts in life are coming, you'd handle them differently. You'd savor. You'd stop. You'd let nothing else invade the moments."
***Chapter 12, page 136 - "Sometimes, even when you've spent years ignoring God, there are places where His fingerprints seems absolute."
***Chapter 17, page 205 - "How sad, to live an entire life blinded by the ordinary, when the path to the extraordinary waits just beyond the well-meaning prisons of our own making."
***MY FAVORITE QUOTE*** Chapter 25, page 291 - "To love and be loved is the very thing our souls scream for from birth and every moment after, the urge to need and be needed as natural as breathing, as life-giving as breath."
***This statement summed up the feeling I've had as I've finished reading many novels*** Chapter 22, page 256 - "Scanning the last page from beginning to end again, as if somehow by re-reading it, I could make the paper stretch, grow new words, tell me more of the story."
I highly recommend "The Sea Keeper's Daughter", which can be read as part of the series or as a stand alone.
Thanks to Lisa Wingate and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Books for the ARC of this book to read, enjoy and review.
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