Cape Split is the perfect place to practice witchcraft. At least Catherine Craig thinks so. A nurse and wife, Catherine fights against the isolation of a life in Cape Split with magical egg rites, wishing stones, and an odd cast of characters: a prickly gossip whose marriage is falling apart; a lobster fisherman who’d rather drown in bourbon than accept friendship; and Catherine’s own husband, … friendship; and Catherine’s own husband, whose fear of fatherhood has made him more and more distant with each passing day. If only there was a magic potion for that.
As Cape Split threatens to take everything she holds most dear, Catherine discovers which friends are meant to stay, which dreams are meant to come true – and whether her love is the kind worth fighting for. A Song for the Sea is a story of friendship, hope, loss, and love, and shows that with a little magic, even the darkest storms can be weathered.
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A Song for the Sea is a story of love and soul mates that takes place in Maine. More than that it is an ode to New England lobstermen and fishermen who work harder than anyone can imagine in job that is more dangerous than most. Although the love story is moving and beautiful having grown up in New England and spending time near the docks as well as having relatives and friends who work (ed) in the lobstering and fishing industries I found the description of these men equally moving and realistic. They are a breed unto themselves.
This novel tells the story of two Catherines. The reader gets to know Catherine Craig and her husband Emery early in the book. They are true soul mates. Cate has “the site” and learned to use it along with ancient rituals from her aunt. As a nurse she used what she knows to help her patients in the hospital. Her husband Emery, born in Scotland, raised in New Brunswick, is now a Maine lobsterman. They have a relationship others envy.
Later in the story the ghost of Catherine Graham is introduced. She was the wife of Lester, another lobsterman, who died several years before the book begins. As the reader becomes aware of Catherine a story unfolds that is similar to Cate and Emery’s.
This is a story of great loves, loss and second chances at life. As Lester’s life becomes more entwined with the Craig’s the reader is taken on a journey of discovery, friendship, love and acceptance of what life throws in our path.
There are a lot of characters in this book. The development of those most important to the story is well done. The lesser characters although not fully developed have enough development to know them and provide insight into the main characters.
The storyline is slow to build but when it does it’s interesting and well done. I enjoyed the book and really learned to love some of the characters.
I recommend this book. It’s a beautifully explored look at what true love is and what it isn’t. It shows that no relationship is perfect but deep abiding love is worth working and sacrificing for. Add the look inside the tough lobstering business and it’s well worth reading.
Shake Off the Ghosts – This is my first book by this author and I couldn’t stand Corinne’s character and her unnecessary use of vulgar language. What really offended me was the lower case usage of God and the fact God was in almost every paragraph. Besides the misuse of God, the book needed some editing to catch the inconsistencies, although the previous mentions aside, this is better edited than most books today. For a contractor, Corinne is soft; the executor of the estate and her disappearing boyfriend walk all over her. She should be used to dealing with people like that since she’s a contractor. Bran is OK, just a typical guy, but it was weird that he tried to hide who he was from the locals who knew him and his family.
I didn’t finish the book because the language and the horrendous misuse of God kept distracting me and getting in the way of whatever the book had to offer. It’s like a screaming kid in a movie theater, annoying. I liked the idea of what the story could have offered otherwise, which is why I wanted to read it. I found this book on Booksprout.co. 3*
A Song For the Sea – This is my second and final book by this author. I looked forward to reading this book since the witch portion intrigued me. But the story dragged on and then the dialog between the hospital co-workers was so heavy with vulgar language that I couldn’t take any more. I didn’t care about any of the characters, especially the Craig woman. While better edited than most books nowadays, the author needs an editor; she can upper case diabetes, but not God? There are other corrections needed. I found this book on Booksprout.co. 3
This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I must say, she is certainly talented. Carrigan has a writing style that pulls a reader in with characters that are varied and interesting. I loved the cantankerous Lester! I’m not very familiar with fishing boats and all that is involved in the profession, so the details given on that were quite interesting to me. The drawback for me was that a rather large portion of the beginning of the book was taken up with a bit too much information about the lack of control of bodily functions during a particularly bad stomach bug. The character was miserably sick with said bug and his wife took care of and cleaned up after him would’ve been sufficient information on that subject, in my opinion. I didn’t need pages and pages about it, and it took away from what I felt was otherwise a beautifully written story. That aside, I did enjoy the touches of magic throughout the tale and would read other works by this author.