EVERLASTING

In 1855, the daughter of a well-to-do San Francisco merchant embarks on one final sea voyage with her father before she is to be married. A shipwreck later, she finds herself in Australia, where she must unravel the secrets she discovers have been kept from her all her life. Seventeen-year-old Camille was raised by her father after her mother died giving birth to her. Newly betrothed to his affable business partner, Camille is troubled by her lack of feeling for her fiancé and by the stir of attraction she feels whenever she is around Oscar, the first mate on her father’s ship. Camille’s third-person narration is confessional in tone, and the tension between her and Oscar is appealing, but the latter is excessively protracted. The overall pace of the novel seems to slow once the ship sinks, and the subsequent cross-country trek drags. However, Camille is a nicely realized character—vulnerable yet determined—and the supernatural elements wrapped up in her background are a pleasantly chilling touch. (Historical fantasy. 12-18)