The air is acrid; the beast is mighty as he rises from the depths of the dark ocean. She can sense the impending doom upon them all, the untimely end they all must face. The whale descends upon them, splintering their ship into nothing while the men all fall into the cold abyss of the sea.

It is something Liza has known all her life, and yet she has never experienced it. The dreams are recurring, but Liza knows she is not herself in them. How can she taste the salt of the ocean, feel the cold wind on her face, and see the beast coming for her when she has never seen the sea in her current lifetime? Whisked away to Nantucket by her closest friend, Liza finds herself reliving a life that seems to have occurred more than a hundred years ago. Only, it seems, that she carries a guilt within her that she can't place. Could it be that she is reliving her days as a captain that may have murdered his young wife?

From the moment I opened this book I was pulled in. The intrigue of the mystery within the dreams was captivating; I was eager to experience every clue that Liza found to her past life. The author wrote her story with a perfect balance between the modern Liza and the person she may have been in another century, neither tale overpowering the other. The flow was precise, the content never feeling dull or sluggish. I enjoyed Kate Brsllier's novel and hope to see her write more in the future. ( )

I enjoyed this book so much. I haven't read a book that has kept me so enthralled in ages! This is a book that presents a little bit of mystery, a little bit of the paranormal, a little bit of romance. This book has it all. The author can actually construct a decent sentance, and her words paint such vivid imagery. In sum, the main character is searching for the cause of the mysterious dreams she has had her whole life. She embarks on a journey halfway across the continent and finds herself in the small little community of Nantucket. She meets an interesting gaggle of elemental characters, and proceeds to find her answers, and her own self over the course of the summer. The book is filled with interesting little nuggets of historical accuracy that greatly added to my enjoyment of the story. I would definitely recommend this book to someone who's looking for something other than the old "tried and true." You won't be disappointed. ( )