Set the Stars Alight

 

Back Cover

In an aged brick cottage in London, the magic of the past comes alive each night for the family of a humble watchmaker.  In her father's fireside stories, Lucy Claremount's fascination with the high seas begins, leading her to devote her life's work to discovering the whereabouts of a legendary lots ship.  But when tragedy strikes, it's childhood friend Dashel and his knowledge of the stars that may help her solve the puzzle.

Two hundred years earlier, three young lives are altered forever when a shepherd rescues the son of a powerful admiral.  As the children grow, war leads to unthinkable heartbreak, deep love, and a story of betrayal, sacrifice, and redemption that fades into obscurity as centuries pass.

As Lucy and Dash explore mysterious ruins on the East Sussex coast, their search leads them to a community of souls and a long-hidden tale that may hold the answers - and the healing - they so desperately seek.

Review 

The words written on the pages of Amanda Dykes' novel are, quite simply, beautiful poetry in story form.  Her choice of words and descriptors conjures images of Ms. Dykes sitting behind an old, wooden roll-top desk with a quill and ink pot in hand, her written lines likened to calligraphy as opposed to printed format.  Her words carry a reader to a magical place of true story-telling that teases all the senses for an awe-inducing experience.  I fell in love with Amanda Dyke's writing with her first book, Whose Waves These Are, and she has quickly cemented me as an avid follower of her works with her second novel, Set the Stars Alight.

The reader follows along Dash and Lucy as they traverse the skies and seas for clues to the final resting place of the HMS Jubilee. In a split time format, the reader also travels back to the time HMS Jubilee was in action, to learn firsthand the story behind the ship and those connected to it. I greatly enjoyed connecting the dots alongside Dash and Lucy as they unearth the grand mystery, spurred on by Lucy's father and his passion for story-telling.  

At the end of the book, Ms. Dykes writes in her notes to the reader how she has doubted whether her words, her stories make a difference.  She can certainly put those fears to rest.  Set the Stars Alight sets a reader's heart soaring with awe and wonder in a way that only a beautiful story can do.  Don't stop, Ms. Dykes.  The world needs you and your amazing stories.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.