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Baker Publishing Group - Amanda Dykes

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217 pages

English

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A mysterious song in the forest . . .A discovery in war-torn France . . .A journey toward hope. The trenches of the Great War are a shadowed place. Though Platoon Sergeant Matthew Petticrew arrived there with a past long marked by shadow, the realities of battle bring new wounds--carving within him a longing for light, and a resolve to fight for it. One night, Matthew and his comrades are enraptured by a sound so pure, a voice so ethereal, it offers reprieve--even if only for a moment. Soon, rumors sweep the trenches from others who have heard the lullaby too. "The Angel of Argonne," they call the voice: a mysterious presence who leaves behind wreaths on unmarked graves. Raised in the wild depths of the Forest of Argonne, Mireilles finds her reclusive world rocked when war crashes into her idyllic home, taking much from her. When Matthew and his two unlikely companions discover Mireilles, they must embark on a journey that will change each of them forever . . . and perhaps, at long last, spark light into the dark. On the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier comes an emotive tale inspired by the courageous soldiers of World War I.

Sujets

Historical romance

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	03 août 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781493431465
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	6 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0384€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Cover
Praise for Amanda Dykes
“Moving between a contemporary setting and the early nineteenth century, Amanda Dykes has written a sweeping split-time novel, in turns mysterious and adventurous, mythical and romantic. Filled with magic, wonder, and gorgeous writing, Set the Stars Alight is a stirring gem from a gifted author.”
—Julie Klassen, bestselling author of A Castaway in Cornwall
“Amanda’s lush tale took me to another time where her subtly crafted scenes left memorable impressions of the mysterious expanse of faith, hope, and especially love. Timeless love. I hope you’ll linger over the pages. Hidden in the carefully crafted words is an invitation to share the rare gift of a sense of wonder.”
—Robin Jones Gunn, bestselling author of the H A V E N M A K E R S S E R I E S and Christy Award Winner
“The stars align beautifully in this latest tale from Amanda Dykes. A split-time search for light both in the past and present, brings the reader on a poetic journey to find belonging and hope. Misted with sea water and lit by the moon, the words on every page of Set the Stars Alight become integral to the reader’s own journey, and the ending will resonate long after the last page has been closed.”
—Jaime Jo Wright, author of On the Cliffs of Foxglove Manor and Christy Award-Winning novel The House on Foster Hill
“An absolute gem of a debut! With her breathtaking prose and captivating setting, Amanda Dykes weaves a tale of utter charm along the rugged coast of Maine. Whose Waves These Are transcends to the highest level of fiction. The author has paused to see humanity at its most real and precious, leaving the reader to tuck this one among the classics. It’s a novel that wraps around the heart, breathing of hope and light in every scene. Equal parts relevant and nostalgic, this is a novel for the ages.”
—Joanne Bischof, Christy and Carol Award–winning author of The Gold in These Hills
“This is the book everyone will talk about all year—lyrical, lovely, full of heart and heartache, secrets kept and revealed. These characters, this town, and their stories will seep into your soul and leave you wanting more. A novel of hope and reconciliation you won’t forget for a long time, probably not forever.”
—Sarah Sundin, bestselling and award-winning author of When Twilight Breaks
“With a gorgeously inimitable voice, Dykes sets herself apart with a debut novel as timeless as its themes of redemption and everlasting love. I dare you not to be swept into a yarn of age-old tales and seaside secrets deftly penned by a lyrical pen that pliantly shifts between contemporary and historical frames. Romantic, spellbinding, and wonderfully unique, Dykes’s sense of setting and emotional resonance is nearly unparalleled. A book world to be savored and returned to again and again.”
—Rachel McMillan, author of The London Restoration
Half Title Page
Books by Amanda Dykes
Yours Is the Night
Set the Stars Alight
Whose Waves These Are
N O V E L L A S
Up from the Sea from Love at Last: Three Historical Romance Novellas of Love in Days Gone By
From Roots to Sky from The Kissing Tree: Four Novellas Rooted in Timeless Love
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2021 by Amanda Joy Dykes
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-3146-5
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
This is a work of historical reconstruction; the appearances of certain historical figures are therefore inevitable. All other characters, however, are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Cover design by Kathleen Lynch/Black Kat Design
Cover image of poppies by Trevor Payne/Trevillion Images
Map illustration by Najla Kay
Author is represented by Books & Such Literary Agency
Dedication
To Ben, my beloved. The “boy born in a barn.” What a gift to travel this road with you.
And to the four million men who served in the American Expeditionary Forces of the Great War. Your journey was harder than we can know, your lives more meaningful than we can say.
Contents
Cover
Praise for Amanda Dykes
Half Title Page
Books by Amanda Dykes
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Map of France
Epigraph
Prologue
1. Matthew Petticrew
2.
3. Mira
4. Captain Jasper Truett
5. George Piccadilly
6. Mira
7. Matthew
8. Henry Mueller
9. Captain Jasper Truett
10. Matthew
11. Mira
12. Chaplain George Piccadilly
13. Matthew
14. Captain Jasper Truett
15. Mira
16. Matthew
17.
18. Mira
19. Matthew
20.
21. Mira
22. Henry
23. Matthew
24. George
25. Mira
26. Matthew
27. Captain Jasper Truett
28. Mira
29. Henry
30. Mira
31. George
32. Matthew
33. Henry
34. Mira
35. Matthew
36. George
37. Mira
38. Matthew
39. Henry
40. Captain Jasper Truett
41. Matthew
42. Mira
43. Henry
44. Mira
45.
46. Captain Jasper Truett
47. Matthew
48. George
49. Mira
Epilogue: Matthew
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
Map of France
Epigraph

“The day is Yours, the night also is Yours . . .”
Psalm 74:16
Prologue
October 24, 1921 Chalons-sur-Marne, France Ceremony for the Choosing of the Unknown Soldier
There are days you live over and over again, for as long as you live. October twenty-fourth of 1918, just days before the unending war ended, was one of mine. I went into a forest of darkness that day, never imagining how that place would claim me. Four years ago, to the day.
And four caskets before me now.
There were four of us, then, who took a journey. Armed with bayonets and canteens and a mission we had no idea how to accomplish, bumbling fools that we were. A mission of greater import than we realized at the time. One that would change us all.
I watched now from the outskirts of the solemn ceremony as a man in uniform gripped not a bayonet, but a bouquet. A grip of roses—white. Pure. Absent of the scarlet we’d all seen too much of. Slowly, he walked down the line of boxes that held the remnants of so much life. Nobody knew whom the boxes held. And yet everybody knew a thousand soldiers, brothers, friends whom they might hold.
We were no different. I stood shoulder to shoulder with two of my brothers from that time. We’d seen it all, then. We’d seen each other at our best and our worst. We’d scorned one another and needed one another and had left that battle-gouged land with battle-gouged hearts. We’d left one of us behind, in that forest, and though we would never know who lay in these caskets, every one of us wondered: Is it him?
The man before us now would walk this line. He would place that spray of roses on a single casket. The casket would be taken back across the sea, to our nation’s capital, to the soldier’s homeland, to be entombed there. Guarded, always. Kept safe from war, from loss, from all the atrocities he had faced. And in this . . . he would bring something to a nation. Something we brought out of the forest that day, a lifetime ago.
Hope.
This is our tale.
May we never forget.
1 Matthew Petticrew
1900 Greenfield, New York
Rules:
1) Keep off the racetrack, you dolt ! That’s what Mr. MacMannus says. He says if Maplehurst Stables is the crowned jewel of thoroughbred racing, then “that dirt you think you can just run on any old time is good as gold.”
2) Feed the hens and horses between the hours of four and five, and if you finish early, stay out and play. Do not come back to the caretaker’s quarters before that. And don ’t run on that gold dirt.
I looked at my old notebook, with these two rules scratched inside. I was five—almost six—and I had written them down with the help of Mr. Haggerty, the gardener, so I wouldn’t forget. When I forgot, bad things happened. He’d looked at me a little funny when I told him what they were, but he wrote down the hard words for me before getting back to pruning his roses.
The rules weren’t so bad. The rest of the green rolling hills of Greenfield Springs, New York, were mine for the taking, and most of the racetrack, too. But tonight—tonight there was one more rule.
“Stay with Mrs. Bluet, tonight,” Mother had said. “You know the way?” She’d smiled and winced at the same time, cradling her swollen belly before reaching out to ruffle my hair. I was not the smartest boy around, but I could tell something was different. Her breath came quick or sometimes not at all, like she’d been the one caught running around the racetrack and not me.
Her hand was stiffer than usual, and her smile so tight. It wasn’t right. Her smile always went deep and wide, probably the deepest, widest thing I knew.
So, I packed a clean shirt like she told me to right after she’d kissed me on the top of my head. But I tucked myself under her window outside instead of heading to the cook’s quarters at Mr. MacMannus’s house. It sat just on top of the hill, looking down on our little house, the way hawks look down at field mice. I didn’t like it there. It was called Maplehurst too, just like the stables. It sounded sweet like the syrup, but for all its fancy rooms and people coming and going in suits and dresses, it felt awful cold and un-sweet to me. I accidentally called it Maple hurts once when I was there eating a