The Sky Beneath Her: A Novel

An unforgettable tale of lost love and buried truths, where the mysteries of a famous shipwreck hold the key to one woman’s future—and the truth of her mother’s final days.

It’s been seven years since a tragic diving accident took her mother’s life, leaving Tula Cassidy with a crushing fear of the sea. The ocean she once loved is no longer a part of her. And she can’t imagine it ever will be again.

Until her return to the Outer Banks changes everything.

While clearing out an old beach house, Tula receives a mysterious manuscript about the Oceanus. The passenger ship’s final voyage ended in disaster in 1942, and its underwater wreckage ultimately became her mother’s final resting place.

As Tula unravels the ship’s haunting history, she uncovers not only an unexpected family connection, but also a story of survival that helps her understand her own journey toward healing.

With help from Nathan, the charming dive instructor she left behind years ago, Tula faces her deepest fears to unlock the secrets of both past and present. Sometimes the greatest journeys begin when we find the courage to dive back in.

Mary Ellen Taylor is an Amazon Charts bestselling author of contemporary women’s fiction known for dual-timeline stories, strong sense of place, and emotionally resonant themes of family, home, and belonging. Her novels are set in Virginia and the Outer Banks of North Carolina and include The Union Street Bakery, Winter Cottage, Spring House, The Brighter the Light, and When the Rain Ends.

Born in Richmond, Virginia, where she has lived most of her life, Mary Ellen Taylor writes character-driven fiction that blends past and present mysteries with journeys of personal transformation. Her books often explore how history shapes modern lives and how women reclaim identity, forgiveness, and connection across generations.

Before becoming a full-time novelist, she worked in marketing, a career she left to pursue storytelling. She grew up in a family that valued stories in every form—from shared family memories to well-told tales—and that early influence continues to shape her fiction.

Food, baking, and creativity are recurring elements in her early Alexandria-set novels. She earned a Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate from the University of Richmond’s Culinary Arts Program, and her love of baking inspired The Union Street Bakery and the recipes connected to several of her books.

Mary Ellen Taylor is also the New York Times and USA Today bestselling suspense author Mary Burton, with more than forty published novels across both names.

She lives in Virginia and on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with her husband.

An unforgettable tale of lost love and buried truths, where the mysteries of a famous shipwreck hold the key to one woman’s future―and the truth of her mother’s final days.