Publication Date: May 5, 2026

One of the reasons I like being asked by publishers to read books via NetGalley is that I find myself reading things I might normally pass over. Take this book, for example—it didn’t seem like one of my “normal” reads. But when the publisher described it as a book “For readers of Wild Dark Shore and Heartwood, Where the Water Meets the Sky is the story of a brave young woman seeking wholeness and love in the untamed forests of Michigan’s upper peninsula—and answers about a fire that took away everything.” Well, that piqued my interest as I had read both of those—one for NetGalley, the other because my husband highly recommended it.

And I am so glad I did! I absolutely loved all the natural stuff, and I learned a lot about the UP (Upper Peninsula of Michigan), someplace I’ve never been. I also really enjoyed the story—the main characters, the couple of twists I wasn’t expecting, the closeness of the family . . . let’s just say I teared up more than once!

Diane Les Becquets, from the UP herself, really makes this work. I am so glad I read it, and it had the added bonus of being by a fellow Episcopalian.

Diane Les Becquets

 GoodReads says:

For readers of Tell Me Everything and Heartwood, Where the Water Meets the Sky is the story of a brave young woman seeking wholeness and love in the untamed forests of Michigan’s upper peninsula—and answers about a fire that took away everything.

On a night in January, on the Garden Peninsula of Michigan, a farmhouse burns to the ground. A young child makes it out and flees into the woods with a book of matches in her hand.

Ten years later, Abby, a lover of birds and the natural world, returns to Garden, to the woods and lakes and farms and fisheries of her childhood, to assist her uncle on an environmental study of trees. Her best friend, Brew, invites her to a party where she meets a troubled girl named Seda, on the run from her abusive ex. Abby sets out to protect Seda and introduces her to an abandoned cabin that becomes a sanctuary for them both. Here, Abby begins to process her unrequited feelings for Brew while also discovering the person she is becoming. She wants more for her life, a hunger both spiritual and physical, and seeks to understand the trauma of her childhood that took her mother from her. Abby cares deeply for the people and flora and fauna around her and identifies with the wounds of the environment. She is desperate to remember what happened the night of the fire and as the summer of 1996 unfolds, Abby will be forced to reckon with the truth.

Perfect for fans of the lush and tender nature writing of Helen Macdonald and Richard Powers, Where the Water Meets the Sky is a coming-of-age novel that expertly delves into the connection between our perception of ourselves and our natural environs. It is a paean to the vast and beautiful wildscape around us and to the power of community and the wisdom of love.