Do you dream of visiting Italy and the romantic streets that hum with history and legends? In her recent release, All the Lost Places, Amanda Dykes will make those dreams come true as she sweeps readers away on the canals of Venice in this picturesque tale of identity, love, and family.
“Once upon the dawn of time, water discovered its eternal dance partners: shadow and light.” ~ Amanda Dykes
1807 – When a baby is discovered floating in a basket along the quiet canals of Venice, a guild of artisans takes him in and raises him as their son, skilled in each of their trades. Although the boy, Sebastien Trovato, has wrestled with questions of his origins, it isn’t until a woman washes ashore on his lagoon island that answers begin to emerge. In hunting down his story, Sebastien must make a choice that could alter not just his own future but also that of the beloved floating city.
“In this land of tapestries and ropes and lace, there were no threads more intricately twined than their hearts.” ~ Amanda Dykes
1904 – Daniel Goodman is given a fresh start in life as the century turns. Hoping to redeem a past laden with regrets, he is sent on an assignment from California to Venice to procure and translate a rare book — The Book of Waters. There, he discovers a city of colliding hope and decay, much like his own life, and a mystery wrapped in the pages of the filigree-covered volume. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries carefully kept within the stones and canals of the ancient city… and in the mystery of the man whose story the book does not finish: Sebastien Trovato.
“Does not God have as much purpose for the Daniel of now as he did for the Daniel of before?” ~ Amanda Dykes
“Who am I?” All of us have asked this question at some point in our lives, but few have sought the answers more than Sebastien Trovato and Daniel Goodman. During their quests through Venice, these young men must grapple with forgiveness, love, and their pasts until the truth stands in front of them.
“The question is not the price of a man,” he said. “That has already been paid. The question . . . is that of a man’s worth. His value.” ~ Amanda Dykes
How do I begin to articulate what I just read? Be still my heart! I’m still reeling after completing this vibrant Historical Fiction beauty. All the Lost Places is a treasure that deserves to be described with only the best words. From the first page, Amanda Dykes captures her reader’s attention with a prologue that is a masterpiece in itself. The perfect setup for the awaiting adventure, I had to reread it before taking a deep breath and plunging into the characters’ lives and their plight to discover who they are and what they were called to do!
“I am like you, Venice seemed to say. A patchwork life, whole and yet broken.” ~ Amanda Dykes
I cannot recommend All the Lost Places enough! Even if you’re in the middle of reading something else, I implore you to pick up a copy of this book and be transported to a world that will remind you that you are not the only one!
*Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with a pre-release copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own*
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My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Positive content: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Godly content:
Language:
Sexual content: ⭐️
Violence:
Age: 13+
Quotes I loved:
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- “Once upon the dawn of time, water discovered its eternal dance partners: shadow and light.” ~ Amanda Dykes
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- “The waters flowed on as the babe grew into a man who would look out over the lagoon that had delivered him, once upon his dawn of time, into a life that would change the shape of a world. A story covered over until it was all but lost.” ~ Amanda Dykes
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- “It was a cosmic joke: the same darkness that once cloaked me in my youth now sheltered me as a grown man . . . but for entirely different reasons.” ~ Amanda Dykes
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- “The ocean that had bound me in, been my border . . . was to carry me off.” ~ Amanda Dykes
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- “Ancient waters, secrets keep, of rios long and places deep. Hear them ring in kindest dreams, let them sing you off to sleep.” ~ Amanda Dykes
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- “I am like you, Venice seemed to say. A patchwork life, whole and yet broken.” ~ Amanda Dykes
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- “How did she do that? Beckon me to plunge with her to the depths and then roll out the sunny shallows for me to climb back out before I was irretrievably lost?” ~ Amanda Dykes
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- “Does not God have as much purpose for the Daniel of now as he did for the Daniel of before?” ~ Amanda Dykes
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- “In this land of tapestries and ropes and lace, there were no threads more intricately twined than their hearts.” ~ Amanda Dykes
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- “The question is not the price of a man,” he said. “That has already been paid. The question . . . is that of a man’s worth. His value.” ~ Amanda Dykes
