Book Review - The Sea Before Us by Sarah Sundin

 

 

The Sea Before Us by Sarah Sundin is about an American naval officer, Lt. Wyatt Paxton, who tries to run away from his past but instead ends up falling in love. In 1944, Wyatt arrived in London to prepare for his assignment of helping Allied forces with the invasion of France. He works closely with Dorothy Fairfax, a “WREN” in the Women’s Royal Naval Service.

Dorothy is assigned to collect and piece together reconnaissance photographs of France via holiday photos. Her assignment of sorting through thousands of photos will help create an accurate map of Normandy. The maps will serve as a guide for the Allies to bombard Normandy, and hopefully lead to fewer casualties.  

While their jobs are not fully dependent on each other, the pair spends a lot of time together. As a result, their budding friendship starts to turn into something more for Wyatt. However, Wyatt’s love is unrequited as Dorothy is attracted to an old childhood friend who also seems to be interested in Dorothy. Dorothy is hesitant to have anything more than platonic feelings for Wyatt because she doesn’t want to leave her bereaved father in England, who depends on her. Will Dorothy and Wyatt be able to get what they both desire?

I thought the novel was an okay read. It took a bit in the beginning for me to get into the book. The writing style isn’t my favorite and I think that took away some of my enjoyment from reading the book. I also, felt that the book was a bit longer than needed. I didn’t care for in-depth war scenes as some of the terminology and scenes made it hard for me to imagine. The book is a straightforward read with most of the twists easy to guess. It is also the beginning of a series that I would be open to reading more of.