It began with a tsunami. The ocean north of Vancouver Island swept off the beach into the sea and returned in a massive wave, carrying anything or anyone in its wake back on land. Luckily, Annie's aunt knew the signs and ran Annie, and her friend Evan, up the highest hill, out of the way of the deadly water. Her parents weren't so lucky. They had allowed Annie to stay onshore while they continued their voyage on their sailboat and were lost at sea. A few days later, as Annie scoured the shore for dinner amidst the mess left from the tsunami, she noticed a nude young man walking on the beach. He fell down in the sand and she and her aunt managed to carry him up to her shack and administer medical treatment. The next morning, Annie woke up early and saw him swimming in the cold ocean which even she wouldn't be in during winter. For some reason she felt an affinity to this stranger who seemed to connect with her on a mystical level. She called him Walker.
Evan and Annie had been inseparable since they were little children-but they only saw each other in the summertime. Annie lived with her parents on their sailboat and her father was her school teacher. Her mother could not live anywhere but the ocean and she taught Annie to swim and fish for food that they'd cook in the ship's galley. After being on the water for the first years of her life, Annie's father persuaded her mother to dock the boat for a few months at his mother's house in the small beach town of Hale's Landing. Evan's father owned the town and had a logging company in the forest above the ocean. Every summer the family would sail into the dock at Hale's Landing and Annie and Evan would spend their days together-it eventually grew into love.
Evan's father realized that whole areas of western Canada would need to be rebuilt and he owned the lumber to supply them-it would save their company. Unfortunately, the power to transport them was knocked out in the tsunami. They could use a boat to bring the logs to the buyers but water transportation was dangerous. Evan did not want to disappoint his father and volunteered to pilot the boat and Walker went with him to crew. One returned.
Told in flashbacks that explain the history of Annie's parents and the love they have for each other, Anderson's debut novel of life above and below the sea is an evanescent glimpse into the natural world and the magic it holds. As Annie sorts out her relationships with steady Evan and mysterious Walker, the reader is fascinated by their contrasting attributes, and wonders who will finally win her heart. A story lyrically told, the novel is a fascinating dive into a new watery fairy tale that resonates long after the last few words.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
August 4, 2026
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