Pretty much every story worth telling has an "aha" moment-a point at which the tale that's being told suddenly comes fully alive.
What I thought while I was writing The Dolphin was how nice it would be if the characters in my story could share that moment with my readers. Well, one character at the start-Maggie. For all that she really believes in what she's doing, I don't think that she had a real expectation that it would actually happen. Thus, when it does, she-like any of us in the same circumstances-is overcome with astonishment. There's neither relief in her immediate reaction nor a sense of personal accomplishment; she's simply overwhelmed. But neither is she paralyzed with a disbelief fostered by years of "received wisdom" that such a thing just cannot happen, to the point of reflexively discrediting the evidence of her senses, as so many might be. Toward the very end of the novel I get into this sort of reaction, which I've personally observed far too often. But enough of that for now. If Maggie didn't trust what she was seeing and hearing, there'd be no story. It's that she does that makes the rest of the tale get to useful places.
Thanks for your votes so far. I wasn't at all sure how this would be received on SOL, notwithstanding that my other writing has done well. I'm very gratified that you seem to like it.