Wonderful story set on the mid-coast of America right before the War of 1812. Eakes knows her historical period as well as sailing. You can just imagine yourself in that time period, feel the spray on your cheeks as you skim the waves on a fishing sailboat.
You also get a good view of what led up to the war from the American side. I'm so used to studying it from the British and French perspectives.
But most of all, you get to read about a wonderfully charming British hero and his growing fascination with a tart, no-nonsense midwife, who, nevertheless, is enough of a free spirit that he finds himself falling in love before he knows it.
But it's a hopeless love as they see it, since he is not from her world, and she can never fit in his. Throw in a mystery plot, which the two join forces to solve, and you have the ingredients of a great suspenseful romance.