I was so thrilled to have been approached by Silke Stein last month to review her book Foam On The Crest of Waves that was published on the 25th of November by Caper Books. This is Silke’s third published novel and I am hoping that it won’t be the last. You can check out Silke’s books here!
Silke Stein is a graphic designer and the author of ‘Trina Bell’s Humming Summer’ and ‘Sleep, Merel, Sleep’. Silke currently lives at the West Coast of Canada, where she combs the shores of the Pacific Ocean and tends to her ever-growing sea glass collection. To learn more about Silke and her books, please visit silkestein.jimdo.com
Not only does Foam On The Crest of Waves have a stunning front cover, but check out this blurb:
Can facing the past transform the present?
In a small fishing town on the Mendocino coast, the tides of time have washed over rumors and suspicions, yet the members of a maimed family still struggle to cope with their memories.
A broken woman, refusing to let go of her vanished husband.
Her widowed brother, clinging to the shatters of the life he loved.
His delusional daughter, planning to turn mermaid on her fifteenth birthday.But when a young man realizes he made a mistake, secrets start emerging from the deep. Will they bring further grief, or possibly redemption?
Foam on the Crest of Waves is a hybrid of Little Mermaid with contemporary themes mixed in which gives it more of a human feel with added depth. I’m not here to draw out the parallels of this read and the classic Disney creation but I am going to tell you it is the opposite of everything Ariel was. Alabone, is a 14 year old mute girl who longs to be in the sea and believes that she will get her wish when she turns fifteen. She spends all her time isolated from those around her and would swap her legs and voice for a tail any day. Quite early on, we realise that Alabone is dreaming so hard of escapism due to unknown issues that will come to light as the storyline unravels.
The beach theme is consistently kept throughout this novel, from entrancing beachy village visualisations, to sea glass art and even to the name of our main female narrative ‘Alabone’, which is the collective name for a group of sea snails with pearlescent shells. I really appreciated this attention to the bookish detail and enjoyed the book more so because of it. The multi-narrative adds a level of complexity to the unfolding events, although at the beginning it confused me, I begun to identify who was who etc. The issues that Silke injected into the storyline, from PTSD, family death and domestic violence, worked well in order to create a further depth – quite frankly teared my heart out.. tissues will be needed.
Foam On The Crest of Waves is a beautifully imaginative novel that I enjoyed, it is a slow burner but the extent of details and character development focus makes up for that. A great beach read for this summer holiday!
Thank you again to Silke for the opportunity to read and review Foam on the Crest of Waves!
The Reading Closet 