Point of Direction

March 24, 2014
A remote lighthouse near Juneau, Ala., serves as a crucible through which two people come to terms with their past and begin to forge a future with each other, in Weaver’s sparkling debut. Anna Richard and Kyle McAllin meet when Kyle picks Anna up hitchhiking on the ALCAN Highway. They develop a relationship but share little information about themselves with each other, even after more than six months living together. When the couple decides to become caretakers for the Coast Guard–owned Hibler Rock Lighthouse and sign a nine-month lease, the lighthouse’s unforgiving environment, with its hard and constant work, becomes a sanctuary for one of them and a prison for the other. Weaver melds Anna’s past failures and Kyle’s issues with abandonment, as well as their present shared struggle, into a gripping narrative where they become like “two weak pieces tied together for strength.” An impressive debut that makes brilliant use of the harsh and beautiful Alaskan seascape.

July 1, 2014

Hitchhiking alone on the ALCAN, the two-lane highway that connects the continental United States to Alaska through Canada, Anna Richards, an American in her 20s, is escaping from a catastrophic event in her past. She is traveling to Alaska in an attempt to heal and find relief from the horrific nightmares that haunt her. Anna is soon offered a ride by a young man in a beat-up truck who is also heading north and also struggling with serious personal trauma. This gripping debut novel tracks the unfolding of their unlikely romance in a small fishing village in Alaska and the painstaking psychological and emotional work each has to do in order to become whole again. Anna is an engaging and vibrantly drawn protagonist who's strong, independent, vulnerable, smart, and, when the chips are down (as they often are in this novel), brave. Weaver is also superb with the setting and atmospherics, bringing the cold, the wind, and the unpredictable and sometimes furious sea powerfully to life. VERDICT A powerfully engaging psychological novel perhaps most essentially about forgiveness; the happy ending here feels authentic and well earned. Recommended for fans of literary fiction.--Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT

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