"Anderson's book is ethereal, languid, crafted of language that rushes and recedes like a tide, buoying a story that reminds us sometimes the impossible is possible."-Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author
For readers of Wild Dark Shore and The Time Traveler's Wife, a fierce, haunting story of one woman caught between her first love and a mysterious stranger who upends everything-and the two worlds that won't let her go.
Annie MacLeod always knew she was different, growing up on a sailboat in the Pacific Northwest, navigating by stars and swimming with sea creatures alongside her parents and best friend Evan. But when a tsunami shatters her world, Annie is stranded on land and forced to confront how eccentric she is. In the wreckage, she rescues a wordless man named Walker, who emits a hum only she can hear.
Their connection is instant, electric. Walker's touch gives Annie visions of the ocean's hidden world, a life she's never known but feels inexplicably drawn to. Yet even as she is pulled toward him, Evan-the steadfast love who has always been there-remains on dry land, offering the stability she may have to leave behind. Annie is torn between Evan's grounding presence and Walker's magnetic secrets. But then, Walker vanishes-along with the answers she needs about who she really is.
Six years later, Annie has left the sea and buried the past-until Walker's otherworldly sound returns, pulling her back toward the ocean and the life she abandoned. The truth under the water is more ancient than she ever could have known, and Annie must confront a choice that will test her heart and determine her future.
"Narrator Sarah Mollo-Christensen elevates this atmospheric, immersive audiobook with flawless pacing, accelerating naturally to sharpen urgency and emotional emphasis. Annie spends most of her life home-schooled aboard her parents' sailboat, coming ashore only for summers with her grandmother and her childhood sweetheart, Evan. At 19, a tsunami takes Annie's parents and overturns her world. Soon afterward, she finds a mysterious, nearly silent man washed up onto the beach. His uncanny sensitivity and knowledge about Annie's past draw her toward him, complicating her bond with steadfast Evan. Mollo-Christensen makes this tension vivid through an impressive vocal range, moving seamlessly among Annie, her close-knit family, and other characters, and keeping every voice distinct.
A beautiful, expressive narration that captures the characters' awe of nature and the sea."