The Shell Collector

April 1, 2021
When Amanda's husband, Jack, is deployed overseas, Amanda cannot imagine life without him. After tragedy strikes and Jack is killed, Amanda is left trying to learn to live with her sorrow while raising their two young children on Whelk's Island in North Carolina. Soon she meets and befriends Maeve, a spirited local senior who also lost her husband many years before. Seeing her own pain reflected in Amanda, Maeve works to help her learn to live with the grief and see the beauty in life again. Set in a scenic beach town, this story has the quaint feel of small-town living that brings with it both nostalgia and appreciation of nature and the sea. Although the relationship development may seem somewhat rushed, the description of Amanda and Maeve's heartbreak feels authentic, and this would be a comforting story to others experiencing the loss of a loved one. Overall, this novel is a pleasant story of friendship, family, and life after loss, that will be appreciated by fans of the Christian overtones of Karen Kingsbury and the beachy settings of Mary Kay Andrews.

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