Shining Sea - Hardcover

Anne Korkeakivi is the author of the novel An Unexpected Guest. Her short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in numerous publications in the United States and Britain, and she is a Hawthornden Fellow. Born and raised in New York City, she has lived in France and Finland, and currently resides in Geneva, Switzerland, where her husband is a human - rights lawyer with the United Nations. They have two daughters.

"This absorbing generational story...explores complex dynamics and captures the mood of different decades in America. Korkeakivi's cogent insight into family relationships and the impact of personal loss, as well as how the times we live in effect who we are, shines through.... Each character's story is rich and excellently crafted.... In the end, Korkeakivi seamlessly brings her themes full circle-heroism, the importance of family, and giving back to the world."―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[An] impressive story about how a family will band together and perhaps drift apart to live on."
―Sarah Bracy Penn, Harper's Bazaar


"An absolutely transcendent novel about great love and great loss, with a majestic sweep from WWII to Woodstock to modern times. About the memories that change-and save us-and the connections one extraordinary family breaks and remakes. So alive, the novel virtually breathes."―Caroline Leavitt, author of Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You

"I tore through it. Shining Sea is a beautifully drawn testament to everyday heroism and to the power of the family to persevere in the face of tragedy and turbulent world events."―Charlotte Rogan, author of The Lifeboat

"I could tell you how in Shining Sea Anne Korkeakivi masterfully explores the impact grief, and war, have on a family. But I will just say this: I loved this book."―Ann Hood, author of Comfort: A Journey Through Grief and The Italian Wife

"When I finished reading Anne Korkeakivi's stirring second novel, Shining Sea, I had to double-check the page count--how could such a huge, multi-generational saga be told so skillfully in less than 300 pages? But Korkeakivi does so, and does it so well, never losing her grip on the reader's attention. The canvas is large, but so are the characters and, most importantly, Korkeakivi's talent which brings them to life. I really, really loved it."―David Abrams, author of Fobbit

"Shining Sea is a novel of clap-demanding authorial grace. Its drama is eloquent, its message resonant. The truly remarkable Anne Korkeakivi has written a laudable and relentless novel."―Chigozie Obioma, author of The Fishermen

"A panoramic novel tracing generations of the Gannon family illuminates the aftershocks of war in the 20th century.... The effortless prose and vining plot make for a winsome tale of kinship and growth. Endearing characters carry a sinuous story of family bonds."
―Kirkus Reviews


"A gut-wrenching story about war, family, and the persistence of memory, Shining Sea will take you all over the globe without so much as leaving your reading chair."―Sadie L. Trombetta, Bustle

"An engaging and moving multi-generational epic."―Largehearted Boy