Such a good book–and if I found myself a bit disappointed in the end, it’s only because the rest of the book was so astonishingly intense. For hours, I lived in the mind of Sara Louise Bradshaw, a girl growing up in the shadow of her beautiful and talented twin–feeling tall, awkward and unloved, but also working hard to shift her own and her family’s fortune.

When she works it all out, coming to terms with herself and her family and growing up rapidly in the last couple of chapters, the new attitudes feel too sudden, and it’s hard to believe that Sara Louise no longer feels the envy and insecurity that have plagued her throughout the book. She comes into her own–but it’s not at all clear to me how she manages it.

Nevertheless, for the setting alone I would read this book again. The little crab-fishing community on an island that’s being reclaimed by the sea is both beautiful and harsh, and I’m nearly seduced into wishing I’d grown up in a tiny town on a salt marsh.

Ridiculous, seeing how I don’t really like salt water, or beaches, or being out in the sun much…

Sara Louise herself is also a character I’d love to spend time with again, and her story reminds me that life’s greatest dramas happen at home.

Like I said, such a good book.