This book surprised me...it got off to a somewhat slow start but gradually I found myself so entralled with this book with it's three parallel storylines; one in the 1830s, one in present day, and one just a year earlier. This book was part historical fiction about whaling in Maine, part ghost story which ties all the characters together, and also a moving family drama -- all with the theme of love and loss. Suspenseful and involving. This was a new author for me but I will definitely be looking for more of her books.