1874
A battered woman awakens atop a forgotten gravesite by Lake Superior's southern shore. Identified only by the locket around her neck inscribed with the name Rebecca, she seeks refuge with an elderly lighthouse keeper. But as Rebecca struggles to remember who she is, she finds herself haunted by the lingering memories of Annabel, a mysterious woman who perished in the lake's unforgiving waves years earlier. With the spirit of Annabel seemingly reawakened, and an unknown adversary on the hunt to silence Rebecca once and for all, more is at stake than reclaiming her own memories. Rebecca must reclaim Annabel's as well.
Present Day
Author and researcher Shea Radclyffe escapes to the lighthouse outside a historic Michigan mining town to seek clarity about her failing marriage. Instantly drawn to the lighthouse's landlord, Shea contends with the legend of Annabel's vengeful ghost and a superstitious community that has buried the truth about a current murder. As the secrets harbored around Annabel's lighthouse unravel, Shea must navigate a fight between torn loyalty, self-discovery, and the haunting forces of love.
. . . demanding vengeance for secrets that should have drowned a century before.
First we meet Rebecca, who is running for her life in the late 1800s. She's found by Edgar and taken back to Annabel's lighthouse. Unfortunately, she doesn't remember anyone or anything. What she does know is fear and mistrust. We also get to know Abel and Niina at the lighthouse. They all share a secret, but getting it out of them wasn't easy, nor was it quick. All we know is men are after Rebecca, and her time at the lighthouse brings us to the story of why! Be ready for your heart to be broken for her and all she has gone through and goes through!
Then we meet Shea. Shea is fed up with her humdrum life with husband Pete. Boring, not-so-exciting Pete. She's heading to the lighthouse to learn more about Annabel and the mystery surrounding her. Her time there makes her wistful of what life could look like and she walks a precarious line. Then, her research of Annabel puts her life in danger because, apparently, Annabel isn't a fan of people looking into the past and snooping around her lighthouse.
This was a story that stopped me in my tracks. It made me introspective of not only my views on how I view my life, but my marriage as well. JJW wasn't playing around when she wrote that storyline. She gives a one, two punch to readers who are married so all I can say is, "Brace yourself."
The faith in these stories always hit home for me. I appreciate how she weaves it into the story and causes us to think more deeply with our own walk in faith.