Excellent book, love it! Looking forward to more from this author! Apologies for the lateness of my review

Once upon a time, a young girl, Estie, and her goat ventured into a dark forest, looking for a cure for her elder sister who was dying from the pox.

Her father Merdocai has surrendered himself to the evil Marquis to be experimented on for a cure for the “greater good”; and with her mother long dead, all she has is the love for her family and friends.

Meanwhile, out in the depths of the ocean, a whale is returning to the place he was born, to exhale his last breath. While Estie does not know this, he too holds secrets that belong to her story.

While every story, like every life, has its beginning, middle and end, some don’t follow that order and in order to know one beginning you need to find a different ending.

This is probably one of the most beautiful stories I’ve read this year. It’s a short book, but the characters and the journey are so well thought out and the poetic prose style writing just ties it all together.

The use of multiple timelines keeps us engaged as we learn how each character’s involvement in Estie’s past has shaped her present and her future.

Can’t recommend this one enough!

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers and the author for my copy of the book.

A very well told but different story of sacrifice and love for family. It's emotional and draining. I felt for the characters who came to life through words. It's a hard time living through the fear of pox as they don't have the medical help that we now have. So I feel grateful. The animals lightened the tale and made me grin.

This is such an unusual story and so charmingly written. So often the descriptions given, and the side notes mentioned, left me smiling even when at times it was a sad or difficult moment occurring in the story. Which, within this story is often, for there is much sadness.

The characters feel so real, even down to the goat Isabel and the falcon, who wants to be fetching live meals not being served a prepared snack. What matters most features heavily as far as family and the sacrifices needed to protect them including during the times of the terrible pox. It is a book where sacrifice ties in heavily with caring … and it is a story of connection.

Then there is the humpback whale who sings. An old whale who has known both suffering and longing and who sings and in this we have the last song. We are left with many unanswered questions, and yet touched by the simplicity, magic and humble nature of this tale. There is grace and there is healing in these words. Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for letting me read this arc in exchange for a review.