Across the Crying Sands

Author: Jane Kirkpatrick
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: The Women of Cannon Beach #1
Pages: 304
Release Date: May 20, 2025
Publisher: Revell

A Tale of Uncharted Adventure and Discovery Inspired by a True Story

In 1888 Mary Edwards Gerritse is a witty and confident young woman who spends as much time as possible outdoors on the rugged Oregon coast where she and her husband, John, have settled. The two are a formidable pair who are working hard to prove their homesteading claim and build a family. But as Mary faces struggles of young motherhood and questions about her family of origin, she realizes that life is far from the adventure she imagined it would be.

After losing the baby she's carrying, grief threatens Mary, but she finds an unconventional way to bring joy back into her life--by taking over a treacherous postal route. As Mary becomes the first female mail carrier to traverse the cliff-hugging mountain trails and remote Crying Sands Beach, with its changing tides and sudden squalls, she recaptures the spark she lost and discovers that a life without risk is no life at all.

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Reviewer: Jeanette Durkin

Wow! What an amazing book! The title is what captured my attention right away. The crying sands is an appropriate name, as later revealed. It starts off with an almost devastating disaster. There are secrets kept by many of the characters that threaten their relationships. The setting in Oregon represents a tough but satisfactory existence.

Mary - she’s strong physically and mentally. She’s a hard worker and often has too much on her plate. John- hm. I liked him, then I didn’t, and then he became a better man by the end. I admire him for trying to be the provider for his family, but sometimes the cost to his family was too much. Jewell is a jewel! She’s a faithful friend, always showing up at just the right time. I hope she’s in the next book!

There are a lot of questions raised that are unanswered, but the cliffhanger promises that more will be revealed.

I was provided a complimentary copy of the book from Revell via NetGalley through Interviews & Reviews. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Reviewer: Conny Withay

“It was his job to keep his family safe even if did upset her,” Mary’s husband determines in Jane Kirkpatrick’s novel, Across the Crying Sands.

The first book in The Women of Cannon Beach series, this 304-page paperback, targets those interested in Christian historical fiction about living on the Oregon Coast in the late 1800s. With no profanity, topics of mistreatment, illness, and death may not be appropriate for immature readers. The beginning includes reviews, a list of the author’s written books, maps, and a cast of characters, while the ending has a poem, a sneak peek to the next book in the series, six discussion questions, the author’s notes and acknowledgments, resources, a biography, and advertisements.

In this story, supported by history dating back to 1888, Mary Edwards Gerritse is married at sixteen and pregnant at seventeen, in a rugged Oregon coastal town. While her husband is gone for weeks or months at a time delivering mail or helping on a ship, it is up to her to carry on and survive, even when she has four young children. With a wanderlust for adventure, she must learn how to fend for herself to find her purpose in life. Meanwhile, those around her, including her secretive mother, her uncertain husband, a foreigner wanting to prove himself, and an American Indian finding her footing, flow in and out of Mary’s life.

Since I live in Oregon, I was drawn to this series that involves the state, its land, climate, and growing civilization. I enjoyed learning about the first female mail carrier of Crying Sands Beach and the building of the Elk Creek Road, which brought travelers to the remote area. The story explains well what women went through living alone on the land to survive.

Those who do not like stories that mention God may not like this series, but it is not overdone or the focus of the book. Some may not like that the tale is told by multiple characters, thus there is little closure in the first book. I found Mary selfish and controlling with the book’s ending abrupt and anticlimactic.

Having read several books by the author, I wish the eternal plan of salvation was given.

If you like historical fiction about a stubborn woman’s search for freedom, even when married with children in the late 1800s, this one has a strong protagonist who is determined to find her way.

Thanks to Revell and Interviews & Reviews for this complimentary book. I am under no obligation to give a positive review.

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Reviewer: Ewurabena Wilson

A delightful read from the pen of renowned writer Jane Kirkpatrick. 

I have come to realise that Christian fiction writing is not just a talent or a hobby but a calling. The skill of a Christian writer is dependent on the level of experience of Christ Jesus and the amount of light in the writer. Jane Kirkpatrick writes like someone who has both attributes. Her writing style is subtle and fills readers’ minds with the fragrance of her God. 

Across the Crying Sands, the first book in The Women of Cannon Beach series is a novel that will immediately immerse readers who are into such a genre of books. The novel tells the story of Mary Edwards, a young maiden about to marry her husband-to-be, John Gerritse. After a near-miss death incident, the two marry and are thrust into the journey of marriage.

What I liked about this novel was how the story flowed. It felt like I was drinking spring water on a hot summer day. I was drawn to Mary and her challenges with her marriage and settling down. The addition of other characters like Herbert Logan, an Englishman exiled from home who was still in love with a woman he is forbidden to love, Jewell, a native American woman and Mary’s fretful mother who harbours secrets, made this novel more enjoyable to read.

I kept on waiting for the incident that changed Mary’s life, as stated in the book’s synopsis. The incident finally did happen, but the ending of the novel felt like a cliffhanger. Perhaps the second book in this series will tie all the loose ends of this novel.

I will recommend this book to new and existing fans of Jane Kirkpatrick.

I received a complimentary copy courtesy of Bethany House through NetGalley and Interviews & Reviews for my honest opinion.

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