"Not a thing," he said. "I'm just looking at you. Exactly as you are right now. And not because you'll change, though you will of course. ... But because if I could have built a human being, I would have built you. Just so."
Nobody had ever said anything that good about me.
I seem to be locked on an island at the moment. This is the second book I have read recently with an island setting. I adored Lauren Wolk's previous book Wolf Hollow. Beyond the Bright sea is a slightly more gentle book as Crow, a little girl who washed up on Cuttyhunk, the outermost of the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts, struggles to make sense of her origins and identity.
Crow is found in a boat, all alone. She is taken in by the reclusive Osh. He has moved to this remote island many years previously to escape has past. While we never really know what happened to Osh it is very obvious that his love for little Crow has made a huge contribution to his healing. On a nearby island Maggie watches this man and little child and she gradually gains his trust and joins in with the care of Crow. She is also an excellent cook and is able to provide delicious and nourishing meals exactly when they are needed.
Across the water from Cuttyhunk is the island of Peikese which has previously been the location of a leprosy hospital. The hospital has closed but the people on Cuttyhunk are suspicious that Crow might carry this frightening disease. She is shunned by the islanders but this just fuels her own curiosity about Peikese and it's history.
Crow convinces Osh and Maggie that she needs to visit the island and see the hospital for herself. Osh does not want to go there. He feels their life is settled. No need to go looking for the past but he does eventually agree to sail over. While the three of them are exploring, Crow hears a thud. She is suspicious that someone might be trapped in a building on the island. They meet a man who they think is the bird keeper but he seems odd and hostile and the three of them rush back to their boat and sail home. Crow cannot get this thud out of her mind. The three of them will need to make a return visit to the island and quickly.
The intrigue builds when Osh gives Crow a small collection of objects that came in the boat when she washed up all those years ago. There is a fragment of a letter, a ruby ring and her feather shaped birth mark. On the island there is a grave for a baby and also a carving of this same feather.
Here is an interview with Crow herself - it is sure to make you smile and you can read an interview with Lauren Wolk too. Here is a review with more plot details.
I feel lucky that I have visited Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket so I do have some sense of the setting for Beyond the Bright Sea. If you enjoy the idea of island life or you want to read a good mystery look out for Beyond the Bright Sea.
This book will make people want to run away to the Elizabeth Islands. Kirkus
Leprosy, pirate gold, orphans, shipwrecks, lost messages, they all crowd the pages and leave you coming back for more. Wolk actually knows how to write for kids, and not just that, write beautifully. SLJ Betsy Bird
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