Words in Deep Blue

April 10, 2017
Eighteen-year-old Rachel, still traumatized by the death of her brother, wants to be far from the ocean where he drowned; she decides to move back to suburban Melbourne, where she grew up, to live with her aunt. Meanwhile, Henry, Rachel’s former best friend in Gracetown, is also confronting loss: his girlfriend just broke up with him, and his parents have decided to sell their bookstore, his place of refuge. In this novel set in Australia, mostly at the bookstore, Crowley (Graffiti Moon) effectively conveys the complexities of love, death, time through Rachel and Henry’s alternating narratives, as well as letters and notes pulled from the pages of old books. It’s only after Rachel takes a job at the store that she begins to heal, coming to terms with her failures, Cal’s death, and her rekindled love for Henry, who is wrapped up getting his girlfriend back. Filled with soul searching and philosophical quips, this book is for thinkers and lovers of literature who, like Rachel and Henry, are passionate about ideas and searching for answers. Ages 14–up. Agent: Catherine Drayton, Inkwell Management.

An achingly beautiful tale of love, loss, and literature from Australian author Cath Crowley is given an engrossing narration by Chelsea Bruland and Hamish R. Johnson. Rachel Sweetie's inconsolable grief over her younger brother's death opens a story that unfolds in multiple layers. Returning to the town where she grew up, Rachel reconnects with old friends, particularly Henry Jones, with whom she is secretly in love. Henry's family owns a unique secondhand bookshop featuring a letter library, where readers communicate by leaving notes in the pages of favorite old volumes. Bruland and Johnson employ varied inflections and cadences to distinguish old from young and to differentiate the notes left in the letter library from the narrative. While it may take a bit of time to settle into the rhythm of this audiobook, it's well worth the effort. S.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine