Monica Reads is co-published by Manchester Ink Link and InDepthNH.org
The Sea Keepers Daughters by LISA WINGATE
Monica Reads, a review by MONICA WEST
Hello. I’m back on track and want to recommend the best read of this weird summer. It is The Sea Keeper’s Daughters by Lisa Wingate. She is thoughtful, interesting and gets your mind wrapped around words that bring people and backgrounds to life in living color! What a lovely gift Wingate has as a wordsmith.
I only visited once to the Outer Banks in the south and now I feel the need to go back and find Roanoke Island and also take a trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains. I am sure I will see it in a new and more charming way. Wingate weaves a delightful tale of childhood, adulthood and feelings of sadness and wonder.
Her main character is on a search for trust and safety, something she feels deprived of in her young life. The loss of her father at a young age and life with a mother that pushes her toward her father’s mother makes this complex conspiracy come to life. Love, loss, betrayal and death are all at work here and she lets the reader in on the search and shares the anguish. How will this end?
You will love reading this book and learning about the Melungeon people and the Federal Writer’s Project started by President Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor during the depression era. Southern charm also is involved. It is a riveting read with lots of historical visits to the past and I guarantee you will learn from it and enjoy it.
Take your time at the library when it opens in your town and look up Lisa Wingate’s books. I am leaving now to my library to get another of her books. I hope you will find the time. Good reading.
Monica West reviews books for InDepthNH.org. Monica is known for her love of history and her lifelong love for reading. She has a bachelor’s degree in History, with a minor in English. “My years of reading for leisure and pleasure have given me the insight to read a book and analyze the author’s baggage, cargo and ability to write the language of his/her mind and utilize the gift of prose to educate and entertain the reader. Go get a book, read it and enjoy the adventure.” Contact Monica at mawest@tds.net