A Bend of Light

A Novel

By: Joy Jordan-Lake

Narrated by: Elizabeth Evans

A quiet coastal village in post-World War II America is shaken when the secrets of the past and present collide in a riveting novel by the bestselling author of Under a Gilded Moon.

Five years after the war, Amie Stilwell, a photo interpreter for an Allied unit in England, returns to her hometown in Maine. Jobless and discouraged but stubbornly resourceful, she’s starting over in the same coastal village where her life once went so wrong. Waiting for her is Shibby Travis, the surrogate mother with whom Amie never lost touch. But the unexpected also awaits…

A silent, abandoned boy is found with a note from a stranger pleading that he be watched over. Amie and Shibby take him in, but the mysteries multiply when a Boston socialite is found dead in a nearby barn and an old friend, believed to be a casualty of war, suddenly reappears.

Trained to see what others cannot, to scan for clues, and to expose enemies, Amie uses her skills to protect a child, solve a crime, and find the motive behind a veteran’s masquerade. But through the hazy filter of a town’s secrets, Amie must also confront her own painful past.

©2022 Joy Jordan-Lake (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“This tale of betrayal, deceit, and redemption satisfies.”—Publishers Weekly

“Joy Jordan-Lake does a great job capturing the essence of Maine and the 1950s. She also develops a strong female character…it's refreshing to have a woman with better things to do (like get her life back together, open her own art gallery, and solve mysteries) than fall in love.”—Midwest Book Review

“A marvelous novel of historical fiction full of emotion, suspense, and nuanced, evocative, and provocative writing. This is a fabulous tale that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.”—M. J. Rose, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Tiara

More Nancy Drew than Agatha Christie

Such great promise, unfulfilled.
As a Mainer, the attempt at Maine accents was distracting, esp. the error of "Congregational" being pronounced "Congressional" (3X over) ...
And the occasional 30 second repeat of material...
The "good guys" were too good/sappy to be true; and the "bad guys" similarly one-dimensional.
Sigh.

Pretty standard

The writing was simplistic and the story average. The narrator’s Maine and Massachusetts accents were poor as well as the fact that her child and male voices were less than authentic.

Great story

Joy Jordan-Lake is a master storyteller. Once again she has woven multiple sub-plots together into a fast-moving tale of moral dilemmas, relationships, loss, and redemption. She brings each character to life. The ending is unexpected, at least to this listener.

Interesting tale

This story is full of twists and turns that keep you guessing throughout! It's a kind, yet dark story that keeps you interested until the very end!

Great story and narration

Loved these characters and the story was very well written. I felt engaged from start to finish. The narrator is wonderful. Amazing job with male voices as well as a child’s.

Too much for one story

I was disappointed with this story. I have read several of Joy’s books and was looking forward to another great read. I think she tried to fit too much into one book. I wasn’t fond of the audio presentation. If you are going to use a regional accent it needs to be genuine and used throughout the entire book.