Scott County Library System's Reviews > Shaped by the Waves

This review was first written for Library Journal by Librarian Christine Barth.

Cassie George is a single mother struggling to complete her doctorate in marine biology and feeling as if “every dream she’d dared to imagine had been crushed under the pounding of her own bad decisions.” A phone call informing her that the woman who raised her has Parkinson’s prompts her to return to Gulls Bay, OR with her precocious preschooler, Lark. Upon her arrival, she receives a mysterious package containing a manuscript with the story of a woman trapped in an abusive relationship.

Meanwhile, Nora Milford is a force on Instagram, but inwardly falling apart with a third child on the way and a diagnosis of gestational diabetes. The three storylines wind and curve as they intertwine; and all characters are living either with open shame or hidden secrets.

VERDICT: Following the arc of each woman’s plot requires a bit of effort at the beginning, but it is well worth it as secrets are revealed. Nelson ( The Way it Should Be) also explores the burden of caregiving and the freedom found in surrender similar to themes in Katie Powner’s A Flicker of Light or Pat Simmons’ Lean on Me.