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rr_author's review against another edition
4.0
I couldn't put down this book, I read it all in one sitting.
It started a little bit slowly, I found myself skimming over some of the letters. But once I started to sort out who was who, it all made sense and became so interesting I didn't want to miss anything.
The historical background was fascinating. Not just facts stuffed in there, but weaved into the story. I loved all the characters, they were all well written and relatable. I couldn't wait to read what the next letter would be, and at the same time see what was going to happen next with Whitney.
The content was clean, and refreshingly, there wasn't too much romance or mushiness. Overall I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it!
It started a little bit slowly, I found myself skimming over some of the letters. But once I started to sort out who was who, it all made sense and became so interesting I didn't want to miss anything.
The historical background was fascinating. Not just facts stuffed in there, but weaved into the story. I loved all the characters, they were all well written and relatable. I couldn't wait to read what the next letter would be, and at the same time see what was going to happen next with Whitney.
The content was clean, and refreshingly, there wasn't too much romance or mushiness. Overall I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it!
annielou's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
theavidreaderandbibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
I just finished reading The Sea Keeper’s Daughters by Lisa Wingate. Whitney Monroe is co-owner of La Tazza restaurant. She recently purchased an old mill (and did not research the town prior to purchase) to open a second location. Unfortunately, Tagg Harper and his cronies are doing everything in his power to stop her from opening the new restaurant (he has the local people in his back pockets). Whitney and her partner, Denise are about to lose everything they have worked for over the last few years. Whitney refuses to back off from the new location.
When her mother passed away, Whitney inherited The Excelsior hotel in Manteo (which is in the Outer Banks of North Carolina). Her step-father, Clyde Franczyk has the right to live in the hotel until his death, and he is firmly entrenched on the third floor (he is cranky). Whitney received a call that Clyde is ill and had to go to the hospital. Whitney is hoping to find something of value in the hotel to sell to help her keep her restaurants (search while he is away).
Whitney finds old letters addressed to her grandmother, Ziltha Ruby Benoit from her twin sister, Alice Loring. Whitney did not know her grandmother had a twin sister. Alice was a part of the Federal Writers Project regarding stories of people and their histories. Whitney finds the letters fascinating. Clyde, who has returned from the hospital, also gets involved in the project (the letters are in pieces). While looking in an old captain’s desk, she discovers some beautiful jewelry and scrimshaw. Can they help her save the hotel? But, at the same time, Whitney will be sacrificing her family history. Mark Strahan owns The Rip Shack which is housed on the first floor of Whitney’s building. Mark does not Whitney to sell the building to the developer, Casey Turner. Mr. Turner will demolish the beautiful and historical building. Mark would also like to start a special youth program on the second floor of the hotel. Can Whitney find a way to save her restaurants while keeping the building and preserving her family history? What did Alice Loring discover during her travels?
I found The Sea Keeper’s Daughters to a very long book. I really enjoyed the history part of the book (it was fascinating). I found Whitney to be stubborn, frustrating, and ridiculous (who hangs on to a restaurant when it will bankrupt you and your family). I was so glad when I finished this book. There are pages of Whitney’s rambling thoughts (you can really just skip over these pages as they do not enhance the book in any way). What Whitney uncovered about her family history was expected, but I found it (the actual history) fascinating. I give The Sea Keeper’s Daughters 3 out of 5 stars. I think this book just needed more polish.
I received a complimentary copy of The Sea Keeper’s Daughters from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.
http://bibliophileandavidreader.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-sea-keepers-daughters.html
When her mother passed away, Whitney inherited The Excelsior hotel in Manteo (which is in the Outer Banks of North Carolina). Her step-father, Clyde Franczyk has the right to live in the hotel until his death, and he is firmly entrenched on the third floor (he is cranky). Whitney received a call that Clyde is ill and had to go to the hospital. Whitney is hoping to find something of value in the hotel to sell to help her keep her restaurants (search while he is away).
Whitney finds old letters addressed to her grandmother, Ziltha Ruby Benoit from her twin sister, Alice Loring. Whitney did not know her grandmother had a twin sister. Alice was a part of the Federal Writers Project regarding stories of people and their histories. Whitney finds the letters fascinating. Clyde, who has returned from the hospital, also gets involved in the project (the letters are in pieces). While looking in an old captain’s desk, she discovers some beautiful jewelry and scrimshaw. Can they help her save the hotel? But, at the same time, Whitney will be sacrificing her family history. Mark Strahan owns The Rip Shack which is housed on the first floor of Whitney’s building. Mark does not Whitney to sell the building to the developer, Casey Turner. Mr. Turner will demolish the beautiful and historical building. Mark would also like to start a special youth program on the second floor of the hotel. Can Whitney find a way to save her restaurants while keeping the building and preserving her family history? What did Alice Loring discover during her travels?
I found The Sea Keeper’s Daughters to a very long book. I really enjoyed the history part of the book (it was fascinating). I found Whitney to be stubborn, frustrating, and ridiculous (who hangs on to a restaurant when it will bankrupt you and your family). I was so glad when I finished this book. There are pages of Whitney’s rambling thoughts (you can really just skip over these pages as they do not enhance the book in any way). What Whitney uncovered about her family history was expected, but I found it (the actual history) fascinating. I give The Sea Keeper’s Daughters 3 out of 5 stars. I think this book just needed more polish.
I received a complimentary copy of The Sea Keeper’s Daughters from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.
http://bibliophileandavidreader.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-sea-keepers-daughters.html
rebeccasarine's review against another edition
5.0
This was an interesting and intriguing book. I didn't want to put it down but I didn't want it to end either. It is a continuation of the Carolina Chronicles series, tying together the stories in the mountains and at the sea. The story line and main characters are well developed causing me to want to know them better and form an emotional attachment, rooting for them.
There are so many lessons to be learned in this book. I could really relate to Whitney. Her struggle and tendency to just keep going and going. How she self-sabotages. Her fear of opening up. I wrote down many quotes from the book. "Suddenly it struck me that so many of the things I'd thought of as world-turning and earth-shattering probably weren't. Life is a process of storms and rebuilding, of fires and regrowth, of loos and gain."
"Scenes like these were made to persuade you that your problems are smaller than you think, transient in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes, even when you've spent years ignoring God, there are places where his fingerprint and his intentions seem absolute. Take a breath, look around, a voice seemed to be whispering. None of this is here by accident, and neither are you."
"The most important skill in life is to learn the acceptance of that which you have not planned for yourself. Discontent, if watered even the slightest bit, spreads like choke weed. It will smother the garden if you let it."
"How wonderful the days when all was well. How necessary, also, that we must release them now. It is fine enough to glance at the past, but one must never focus there overlong...I have lost the carefree girl I once was...allowed the cutting blades of fear to whittle me do to nubs. I dearly believe it was not fate to whittle me down to nubs. I dearly believe it was not fate that brought me here, but God himself. This is the place I will finally find courage and breath and voice."
"Anger and blame were so much easier to manage than acceptance. They were hard and solid. They made good walls. Acceptance was soft. It let everything in, including the pain."
"Hugging my arms close, I looked away, felt the wind of new possibilities pull against the mooring lines of old habits. Did I have the courage to cast off the ties to the life I'd been living since I was five years old and trust had become a liability?"
"The thing about mistakes is, they become valuable when you learn from them."
"Conflicting urges warred-two instinctive reactions. I needed to rely on someone, but relying on people was dangerous. At any moment, people could decide to just...not be there anymore. I'd always relied on myself."
"To love and be loved is the very thing our souls scream for from birth and every moment after, the urge to need and be needed as natural as breathing, as life-giving as breath."
"I'd see the difference between Alice's choices and my grandmother's. In opening herself to an unplanned future, in taking the risk, Alice had found her way back to life and joy and hope."
The history of North Carolina is so interesting and I look forward to reading more about the FWP. I also want to reread these books as well as share them with some friends.
There are so many lessons to be learned in this book. I could really relate to Whitney. Her struggle and tendency to just keep going and going. How she self-sabotages. Her fear of opening up. I wrote down many quotes from the book. "Suddenly it struck me that so many of the things I'd thought of as world-turning and earth-shattering probably weren't. Life is a process of storms and rebuilding, of fires and regrowth, of loos and gain."
"Scenes like these were made to persuade you that your problems are smaller than you think, transient in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes, even when you've spent years ignoring God, there are places where his fingerprint and his intentions seem absolute. Take a breath, look around, a voice seemed to be whispering. None of this is here by accident, and neither are you."
"The most important skill in life is to learn the acceptance of that which you have not planned for yourself. Discontent, if watered even the slightest bit, spreads like choke weed. It will smother the garden if you let it."
"How wonderful the days when all was well. How necessary, also, that we must release them now. It is fine enough to glance at the past, but one must never focus there overlong...I have lost the carefree girl I once was...allowed the cutting blades of fear to whittle me do to nubs. I dearly believe it was not fate to whittle me down to nubs. I dearly believe it was not fate that brought me here, but God himself. This is the place I will finally find courage and breath and voice."
"Anger and blame were so much easier to manage than acceptance. They were hard and solid. They made good walls. Acceptance was soft. It let everything in, including the pain."
"Hugging my arms close, I looked away, felt the wind of new possibilities pull against the mooring lines of old habits. Did I have the courage to cast off the ties to the life I'd been living since I was five years old and trust had become a liability?"
"The thing about mistakes is, they become valuable when you learn from them."
"Conflicting urges warred-two instinctive reactions. I needed to rely on someone, but relying on people was dangerous. At any moment, people could decide to just...not be there anymore. I'd always relied on myself."
"To love and be loved is the very thing our souls scream for from birth and every moment after, the urge to need and be needed as natural as breathing, as life-giving as breath."
"I'd see the difference between Alice's choices and my grandmother's. In opening herself to an unplanned future, in taking the risk, Alice had found her way back to life and joy and hope."
The history of North Carolina is so interesting and I look forward to reading more about the FWP. I also want to reread these books as well as share them with some friends.
sarahfischer's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
3.5
i’ve loved the other Lisa Wingate books i’ve read; i think this one just had wayyyy too slow a start. the second half was far superior to the first half, but i still felt like i really only cared about the historic aspect of the story, not about the modern day characters. overall, 3.5/5.
chloegomez1's review against another edition
4.0
a solid read but some white savior vibes, honestly not a standout book plot. still enjoyable though
thatonebookishmama's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
judithdcollins's review against another edition
4.0
Set in idyllic coastal North Carolina’s Outer Banks, master storyteller, Lisa Wingate brings her captivating, beautiful Carolina Series, full circle with #3, THE SEA KEEPER’S DAUGHTERS – a multi-generational journey, from past to present – of history, family, and renewal.
As the book opens Whitney is struggling with her restaurant, fighting local politics, codes, and all sorts of things to stall her progress. She needs money. She also needs to protect the others she's involved.
She receives a call regarding her stepfather, Clyde from the Outer Banks. He is in the hospital, after falling and being trapped for four days. She feels she is safe enough returning home.
There is a backstory here, how he waived the will in their faces. It is time to go back, as her mom had begged her to go through her grandmother’s things years earlier. He is selfish, possessive, and mean. When her mother died, she left Whitney the hotel, with stipulations her husband could remain living here.
What will she do, go back and find heirlooms? What will she find? Sell them and put the money into her restaurant? What will she do with Clyde? Her family came from money and Whitney still has things left to her, if she can get through Clyde. What if he has sold everything? She hopes he will move into a nursing home or with his son. She has to keep a business head, and not be sentimental.
The hotel Excelsior, an old grand hotel—a place which holds her grandmother’s treasures from an era of wealth. From Michigan to the coast of North Carolina – seventeen hours away. She decides she will go and Denise says she will hold down the fort but warns her to be careful, as she has no idea what she will be walking into. Why would Clyde want to remain here? Her mother would be upset at the poor condition, she finds. She has to keep a business head, and not be sentimental.
Memories start flooding back, upon return. If she knew when the end was coming, things said or done, would have been different with her mother. As she goes through her family history, she discovers letters, secrets, a gripping dark family mystery, and a necklace as well as other heirlooms. Treasures of the past, things which could change her future.
What a journey! So sad to see the series end, as having read all the books, you become invested in the characters, their lives, and their dreams.
Lisa writes beautifully, a storyteller which transports you to time and place---bridging the gap between past and present, with treasures, memories and heartwarming tales. From contemporary to historic-- and everything in between, for a remarkable story; an addictive series, keeping you coming back for the next.
Wingate skillfully uses flawed characters, circumstances, and struggles to make their lives stronger, richer, and fuller. Inspiring—one of compassion, faith, forgiveness, and empowerment!
Highly recommend this entire series. You cannot stop with one. Start from the first, and read them all (do not miss any of the novellas in between). Assured to warm your heart and soul with lots of quotes to keep you bookmarking throughout. Rich in history, charm, and character!
Nothing better than old historic hotels (as enjoy working with them as a consultant), reminiscent of exciting and turbulent eras; always fascinating stories from prior owners, the property, as well as guests. A North Carolina native, I always enjoy revisiting familiar places and landmarks.
A special thank you to Tyndale and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
JDCMustReadBooks
As the book opens Whitney is struggling with her restaurant, fighting local politics, codes, and all sorts of things to stall her progress. She needs money. She also needs to protect the others she's involved.
She receives a call regarding her stepfather, Clyde from the Outer Banks. He is in the hospital, after falling and being trapped for four days. She feels she is safe enough returning home.
There is a backstory here, how he waived the will in their faces. It is time to go back, as her mom had begged her to go through her grandmother’s things years earlier. He is selfish, possessive, and mean. When her mother died, she left Whitney the hotel, with stipulations her husband could remain living here.
What will she do, go back and find heirlooms? What will she find? Sell them and put the money into her restaurant? What will she do with Clyde? Her family came from money and Whitney still has things left to her, if she can get through Clyde. What if he has sold everything? She hopes he will move into a nursing home or with his son. She has to keep a business head, and not be sentimental.
The hotel Excelsior, an old grand hotel—a place which holds her grandmother’s treasures from an era of wealth. From Michigan to the coast of North Carolina – seventeen hours away. She decides she will go and Denise says she will hold down the fort but warns her to be careful, as she has no idea what she will be walking into. Why would Clyde want to remain here? Her mother would be upset at the poor condition, she finds. She has to keep a business head, and not be sentimental.
Memories start flooding back, upon return. If she knew when the end was coming, things said or done, would have been different with her mother. As she goes through her family history, she discovers letters, secrets, a gripping dark family mystery, and a necklace as well as other heirlooms. Treasures of the past, things which could change her future.
What a journey! So sad to see the series end, as having read all the books, you become invested in the characters, their lives, and their dreams.
Lisa writes beautifully, a storyteller which transports you to time and place---bridging the gap between past and present, with treasures, memories and heartwarming tales. From contemporary to historic-- and everything in between, for a remarkable story; an addictive series, keeping you coming back for the next.
Wingate skillfully uses flawed characters, circumstances, and struggles to make their lives stronger, richer, and fuller. Inspiring—one of compassion, faith, forgiveness, and empowerment!
Highly recommend this entire series. You cannot stop with one. Start from the first, and read them all (do not miss any of the novellas in between). Assured to warm your heart and soul with lots of quotes to keep you bookmarking throughout. Rich in history, charm, and character!
Nothing better than old historic hotels (as enjoy working with them as a consultant), reminiscent of exciting and turbulent eras; always fascinating stories from prior owners, the property, as well as guests. A North Carolina native, I always enjoy revisiting familiar places and landmarks.
A special thank you to Tyndale and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
JDCMustReadBooks
jbarr5's review against another edition
5.0
The Sea Keeper's Daughter by Lisa Wingate
Whitney and her cousin run 2 restaurants but one is failing and has met with disapproval at every turn. She hopes there is still some hope to get them out of debt and to make a go of both, but in the meantime the second one remains closed.
She then gets notified her step father, Clyde is in the hospital off the coast of NC and she decides to go there to help with his estate and try to get his kids to care for him...
Love the mystique of the sea captains, their ships that have wrecked on the coast and the wild horses...
Love hearing of all the treasures in her parents house, so precious! Fascinating to learn about the FWP, never knew of it.
Story inside of this other story are the letters from her grandmother's twin sister who she had no idea even existed. Loved hearing of the FWP and the places it took her and her daughter in the hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Facts about the sea turtles and how they are hatched are welcome new to me, information. Like references to Sandy's Seashell Shop and the story keepers saga.
She does have a decision to make about the property and she also has choices. Love how the stories are all connected.
I received this book from Tyndale via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.