cover image The Language of Sand

The Language of Sand

Ellen Block, . . Bantam, $15 (276pp) ISBN 978-0-440-24575-9

Block (The Lightning Rule ) explores in her quaint latest the notion of how losing oneself in a new adventure can help heal wounds. After Abigail Harker's husband and four-year-old son are killed when their suburban Boston home burns down, she moves to a place her husband treasured, Chapel Isle, N.C., leaving behind her beloved job as a lexicographer to become caretaker of a defunct lighthouse. Her living quarters are a shambles (and possibly haunted), and as she fixes up her digs and makes friends with the (naturally) colorful locals, Abigail finds a way through grief and toward a less fussy self. Block writes gracefully about heartache and the mending of an injured soul, and the smalltown backdrop is pleasant without being kitschy. (May)