Our Castle by the Sea by Lucy Strange (review)

Petra, sensitive and introspective, has always viewed her life through the lens of a legend concerning the four large stones that arc between the cliff and the lighthouse her father tends. Local lore says they are the petrified remains of four loving daughters who bartered away their souls to save their fishermen fathers, lost at sea, and often Pet imagines that the stones represent herself, her parents, and her older sister, Magda. After World War II invades the family’s calm existence, the stones take on a more fraught meaning as Pet is forced to consider just what she may need to sacrifice to defend her family: first, her German-born mother, who is interned as an enemy alien and falsely confesses to espionage; next, her father, who has been blackmailed into serving as a one-time courier to protect his family; finally, Magda who has been drawn into enemy collaboration by a handsome local boy from a family of Nazi sympathizers. Pet’s story leads readers through fifth column twists and misdirections that will appeal to mystery fans, while supplying plenty of emotional turmoil for lovers of family drama. Although Pet’s narrative tone is suggestive of a mature woman looking back on a remote chapter of her past, the concluding chapter confirms that the action has been compacted into two years, leaving readers to ponder what the war still might have in store for Pet and the remains of her reunited but grieving family.