Between the Sound and Sea is “Inspirational Contemporary Fiction with History and Mystery at a North Carolina Lighthouse.” The Sound in the title is Pamlico Sound in the Outer Banks of NC, but the title has several layers of meaning.

Josephina Harris–Joey–owns a fledgling event-planning business in Copper Creek, TN, where she grew up. She had helped her father and brother in their restoration business until her father retired and sold the business. But the new owner cheated people, who, for some reason, blamed Joey’s father. Her parents decided to make a new start in Florida. Joey’s customers have cancelled events one by one

When Joey’s friend sends her an ad about help wanted to restore a lighthouse and cottage on a North Carolina island, Joey decides to apply. If she gets the job, it will give her an income to tide her over and give her time to think about what she should do next.

Joey travels to NC and meets the owner of the lighthouse, 81-year-old Walt O’Hare, and his grandson, Finn. Walt had grown up in the area but left after WWII. His best friend, Cay, short for Cathy, had been the lighthouse keeper’s daughter. During the war, her father’s body had mysteriously washed up on shore, but Cay was never found and presumed dead. Walt wants to restore the lighthouse in their memory. Finn is not so sure this idea of his grandfather’s is a good one and is even less sure Joey is the person for the job. But he acquiesces.

It soon becomes clear that Walt has other reasons for wanting to restore, reasons which he is not sharing.

The people in town tell of strange things happening on the island over the years. Some say ghosts inhabit the island. Others say Cay’s father was working for the Nazis.

As Joey begins restoration, she finds patched-up places in the lighthouse’s inner walls. When one area begins chipping, she discovers what appears to be a lighthouse keeper’s log inside–but the events described don’t match the official logs.

Local lore describes a “Saint Mae” who rescued people lost at sea. Could these logs belong to Mae? But who is she and why is she not listed among the lighthouse keepers?

When accidents and unexplained things start happening around the lighthouse and cottage, Joey wonders what’s at the bottom of it all.

Besides the lighthouse mystery, Joey, Walt, and Finn all deal with regrets from their past and indecision about how to handle the future. There’s a secondary story line involving a teenage boy with a troubled past.

I enjoyed how the story unfolded, sharing what really happened with Cay, who Mae was, how everything connected, and how each character found peace. The restoration of the lighthouse seemed a subtle metaphor for the needed restoration available to each character.

I also loved that the author had Christian characters doing Christian things without being heavy-handed about it. Some Christian fiction is so subtle, there’s almost nothing Christian about it. It’s refreshing to find truly Christian fiction.

A couple of favorite quotes:

God meets us right where we’re at. And maybe things in our lives get broken down and beat up along the way. The good news is restoration work is kind of His specialty.

I’m grateful to have played a role, but I wasn’t the planner orchestrating this event.
This one was in the hands of One far more skilled than I, gently guiding even when we were all half certain we’d lost our way.

A couple of well-worded descriptions caught my ear, too: “the comfort of an oversized sweater worn on a crisp fall morning” and “Her voice was wispy like fog over water.”

I listened to the audiobook read by Rebecca Quinn Robertson, who did an okay job. She spoke too softly sometimes.

As I sat down to write this review, I looked up the book on Amazon and reread the first few pages in their free sample. I had forgotten how it began, with an older woman telling a young boy about Saint Mae. I was delighted to realize who those characters were later in the story.

Overall, this was a great read that I am happy to recommend.