Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye... A Review

An Estranged Father and Son Attempt to Reconcile...

in Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye

As I opened the first few pages of Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye I could almost feel the chill in the air and smell the scent of the sea. The book opens with a prologue where we are sharing a moment on the midnight watch on the ore boat Ragnarok with the wheelsman and the officer in charge, some 20 nautical miles north of the Keweenaw Peninsula in water a hundred and fifty fathoms deep. There is a quiet to the moment as the captain reflects on the beauty of the sky before them and the birth of his son. There is a sadness to the moment too, as the captain reflects that his son was born just nine days ago, and here he was sailing away... The officer is Olaf, and the son born just nine days ago is Noah. It is their relationship, or lack of relationship, that makes Safe from the Sea such a powerful story. There is a yearning that comes across as Olaf and Noah struggle to reconcile their feelings as Olaf tells his son that he is dying...

From IndieBound... SAFE FROM THE SEA tells the story of Olaf and Noah Torr, a father and son whose long estrangement began after Olaf survived a shipwreck on Lake Superior. More than thirty years after the wreck, Olaf believes he is dying of cancer and asks his son to come home to his isolated cabin on the lake in order to help him die. Over the course of two weeks in November, against the backdrop of the dramatic upper Midwest landscape and weather, the men reconsider each other's lives, finally summoning the courage to confess, understand and forgive.

Noah's father finally tells his son for the first time the harrowing account of the wreck of Olaf's ore boat, the SS Ragnark, a horrible secret from that night, and the survivor's guilt that has dogged Olaf ever since and caused him to abandon his family. Noah's own struggle to make a life with an absent father finds its real reward in his relationship with his sagacious wife, Natalie, whose complications with infertility issues mark her husband's life in ways he only fully understands as the reconciliation with his father takes shape.

The story is powerful, and Peter Geye's writing is wonderful, with the emotionally charged dynamics between father and son, Olaf and Noah, subtlety floating off the pages. The story moves along with vignettes of Olaf and Noah in happier times, as Noah is growing up. It's these vignettes that pack a powerful punch as you contrast them against the present day, and wonder how a relationship can just slip away...

Part of the story in Safe from the Sea deals with Olaf sharing with Noah what actually happened on the Ragnark. When Olaf recounts the terrible wreck of the Ragnark, the ore boat Olaf was officer on, not only was Noah on the edge of his seat listening, so was I! What fantastic storytelling! You almost feel as though you are in that terrible storm, aboard the Ragnark. And that's one of the gifts of Peter Geye's writing- he can paint such meaningful images & feelings with his words.

Take a journey with a father and son as they discover if they have the ability to forgive... in a broken down house deep in the woods... with the memory of the past holding them together. Listen to the story of the shipwreck, the ships that sail the seas, and life onboard a ship... Listen to your heart as Noah also deals with the impending death of his father...

I enjoyed Safe from the Sea so much! Beautiful prose and a wonderful story. I want to thank Caitlin of Unbridled Books for sending along a review copy!

Guest Post with Peter Geye, author of Safe from the Sea

You may not be familiar with author Peter Geye yet, but if his debut novel Safe from the Sea is any indication of what we can expect from him I'm sure you'll be hearing quite a bit about him. Peter Geye was born and raised in Minneapolis, and Safe from the Sea is "set against the powerful lakeshore landscape of northern Minnesota". I'd like to welcome Peter to Chick with Books today, where he'll share with us a little bit about himself, and what he hopes to impart to the reader with his writing. Join me in a warm welcome to Peter!

As a junior in high school, I had a reputation among my teachers as something of a wise guy, someone quicker to joke my way out of trouble than think it. And it didn’t matter the subject, or even necessarily the teacher; any occasion warranted a sarcastic response.

Then one day I had a teacher tell me it was easier to be a smart ass if you actually did the reading. The book in question was Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. I followed the teacher’s advice. His name was David Beenken, and I have him to thank for where I am today.

What I discovered in Hemingway’s classic was the transformative power of stories. I discovered the pain of doomed love, the horror of war, the importance of deep and abiding friendship. I discovered a new landscape and the seismic force of fate. And I knew, surely as I had done the reading, that there were a thousand more books to read.

Of course, there are way more than a thousand books to read, and still others to write, but I turn back to this memory as a way of reminding myself of the wonder and awe of a first favorite book. Never mind the sermons about how important reading is, what about how enjoyable and edifying it is?

When I began writing Safe from the Sea I reminded myself often to aspire to this, to try and imbue the story with as many moments of mystery as possible. Those moments, to my way of thinking, are what allow stories to engage many different types of readers. Whether it’s the suddenness with which the wind can change direction, ushering in an unexpected storm, or the way in which a simple, unabashed moment between characters not accustomed to each other’s company can transform their relationship by calling up a whole litany of memories, the moments in a story that rely on the reader’s imagination—as much as the author’s intention—are so often the best.

I hope there are plenty of those moments in my book, and I hope that its readers will find plenty of moments to pause and reflect on their own lives as they read about the lives of my characters. I’ve done my job if they do.

Peter Geye is currently touring virtually and on the road promoting his debut novel, Safe from the Sea, "a heartfelt novel in which a son returns home to reconnect with his estranged and dying father thirty-five years after the tragic wreck of a Great Lakes ore boat that the father only partially survived and that has divided them emotionally ever since. When his father for the first time finally tells the story of the horrific disaster he has carried with him so long, it leads the two men to reconsider each other."

Thank you Peter for guest posting today on Chick with Books! And sharing a bit of yourself and your inspiration for Safe from the Sea!

You can learn more about Safe from the Sea and the author himself, at Peter Geye's website. And to all my Chick with Books readers, I'll be reviewing Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye tomorrow!