Where a Wave Meets the Shore — Kathryn Guare

It's 1952, and change is coming quickly to a rugged island off the west coast of Ireland.

It's coming even faster to the two young people about to meet there.

On the Great Blasket Island, with most of its inhabitants lost to emigration and those who remain growing elderly, the members of a close-knit community are preparing to quietly surrender what a century of Atlantic storms could not rip from their grasp.

Residents in the coastal towns along the Dingle Peninsula view the island as little more than a windswept, desolate outpost, and Tom McBride is inclined to agree with them. From the stories he's read and what little he's seen of the island from his uncle's fishing boat, it's a place of endless misfortune with a remnant of withered, superstitious people. That's what he assumes, anyway, but he hasn't met Brigid O'Sullivan.

To Brigid O'Sullivan, the Blasket is a place of magic and power. Its living spirit has drawn her in like a thread, defining her and giving her the gift of seeing things that others can't. She never wants to leave, but her neighbors are growing old and each year find it harder to stay. Her tiny village might soon be empty, but Brigid can't bear the thought of deserting her beloved island. The mainland has nothing to offer that could replace what she'll lose. That's what she assumes, anyway, but she hasn't met Tom McBride.

Imagine this: During the emotional last days of a proud island community, two very different people are about to fall very much in love. But love is never easy, and sometimes it isn't enough.