When Tides Turn

January 9, 2017
Sundin (Through Waters Deep) wraps up the Waves of Freedom WWII-era trilogy with an intriguing variant on the men-at-war story: in this novel, women play significant military roles. Beautiful Quintessa “Tess” Beaumont joins the Women’s Naval Reserve, known as WAVES, with the intention of being known as more than a pretty face. She also wants to navigate her turbulent feelings for Navy Lt. Dan Avery, whose siblings have featured in the other two novels in the trilogy. Although he’s married to the navy, Dan keeps running into Tess thanks to their shared network of friends and relatives. Romantic tension between Dan and Tess mainly drives the action, but threads of espionage involving a circle of Tess’s French friends braid the plot. Sundin has done her usual historical homework, with plenty of references to real people and events of the time, but not everything holds together narratively. A historical fire from 1942 does nothing to fill out the story; a crucial overheard conversation is a weak device. Sundin is an experienced novelist, but this offering uses a few too many tired WWII tropes to succeed. Agent: Rachel Kent, Books & Such Literary Management.

Starred review from March 15, 2017
Sundin continues her exceptional Waves of Freedom series with a new tale about the U.S. Navy's WWII involvement at sea and ashore. Stuck at a desk job with the Anti-Submarine Warfare Unit, steely Dan Avery is determined not to let a woman deter his career aspirationsagain. When Tess Beaumont leaves her shopgirl life in Boston to join the cause, her frustration toward others' superficiality fuels her desire to make a difference, even if it's by putting herself in danger amid suspicions that a spy is at work within her French expatriate community. Against all oddsand the navy's rule against relationships with other naval officersTess and Dan must navigate between their duties to country and desire for one another.Sundin's series is rooted in her fascination with the Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES), the first female branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve. Sundin expresses all due admiration to these pioneering and heroic women while showcasing the tensions these new roles brought. She consistently delivers a buoyant richness in her writing as she balances intrigue and romance with suspense and faith. The romantic agony of forbidden love makes for a delicious finale, and the entire series, including Through Waters Deep (2015) and Anchor in the Storm (2016), is an inspiring and triumphant labor of love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)