Amanda Dykes’ novella, Up from the Sea is a prequel to Whose Waves These Are, one of my all-time favorite Christian novels.

Savannah Mae Thorpe was raised in Georgia, but is taken in by an aunt and uncle in Maine after her parents die. Savannah is more comfortable walking in the forest than the ballroom with her cousins.

When her cousins and their friends tell of an old legend, Savannah recognizes it as a variation on a story her mother told of a young woman who buried a small chest under what came to be known as the Atonement Tree, asking forgiveness while an unknown observer watched.

When Savannah discovers an updated version of the map her mother drew as a child, she goes with her cousins and Alistair Bliss, a local woodsman and employee of the family, to see if they can find the tree. What they discover has ramifications for all of them.

Along with Savannah’s “fish out of water” story, there are hints of troubled secrets in Alistair’s past, Savannah’s uneasy relationship with the cousin she used to count as a friend, and some Revolutionary War history.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Darkness comes, Savannah my girl. But don’t you let it steal your light.

I have a feeling no matter how mixed up the problem is, the answer’s almost always the most simple thing hiding beneath all our worries. That if we scale it back and look for the simplest truth—there lies the thing to do.

So many dashed hopes between the three women present within, yet it felt like a gathering place. God’s hand moving and weaving, stitching these unlikely hearts to one another.

So far, I have loved everything I’ve read of Amanda’s. This was such a sweet story. I loved the development of Savannah’s relationship with Alistair (who becomes the father of the brothers in Whose Waves These Are). I think both books could be read on their own, but they go well together.