Review Detail

"Everything Vibrates;" thats the theme of a well-written, exquisitely-detailed, page-turning historical called Distant Waves, by Suzanne Weyn.

Distant Waves is the story of a precocious four-year old named Jane who grows up among four spirited sisters and an idiosyncratic mother with a gift for communicating with the spirit world. With their father newly passed away, their spiritualist mother struggles to provide for the family, and they wander about, trying to find their place in the world. While in New York City, the family is almost killed by an earthquake inspired by a curious invention developed by the great scientist Nikola Tesla. After the mother hears Teslas theory that everything vibrates, she moves her family to a community founded by and for mediums, and there she flourishes, especially after she bases her readings upon the everything vibrates theory.

Years pass, and when Jane is sixteen, her older sister Mimi accompanies her to New York so Jane can interview Tesla for an essay shes writing. While there, Mimi abandons Jane to become the traveling companion of a married tycoons young mistress a seemingly unimportant detail, except this new role lands Mimi on the guest list of a brand new, ocean-liner - the Titanic. Mimi even secures a nanny position for one of Janes younger sisters, Blythe, and now two of the five sisters are scheduled to set sail on the great and so-called unsinkable Titanic.

Jane and her mother set out to stop under-aged Blythe from sailing on the ship, if they can just reach her in time. In the meantime, the remaining two sisters, identical twins Amelie and Emma, begin having weird and terrifying dreams that they are drowning in a cold ocean under a sky full of twinkling stars. With eerie dreams abounding and spiritual readings floating all over the place, the reader cant help but get it: Not only are Mimi and Blythe headed for disaster aboard the Titanic, but well-meaning Jane and the twins are destined to end up on the deck of that beautiful, doomed luxury ship too.

This is an absolutely wonderful book. The characters are very real, the first-person voice is authentic, and the setting is so vividly and accurately represented, you feel as if youre actually there. The pace is a bit slow in the beginning, and at times I found myself asking, Why all these unrelated details? But as I turned each page, I eventually discovered that every detail is important and every character is essential to the plot.

Theres nothing like a great historical written by a talented and giving author. If youre looking for a great read for a vacation or a day at the beach, be sure to pick up a copy of Distant Waves, by Suzanne Weyn.