The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter

August 27, 2018
Lighthouse keeping, courage, and a complicated family history connect two women living a century apart in this wispy tale from bestseller Gaynor (The Girl Who Came Home). In the 19th century, modest, dutiful Grace Darling assists her father in rescuing the survivors of a shipwreck. Among them is a young mother, Sarah Dawson, who lost both children to the sea. Grace’s display of exceptional bravery in venturing out in the middle of a raging storm catapults her into sudden and unwanted fame. In the 1900s, Sarah’s descendant, the rebellious Matilda Emmerson—19, pregnant, and unwed—is sent from Ireland to Rhode Island to live with lighthouse keeper Harriet Flaherty, her distant, eccentric relative. While in Rhode Island, Matilda researches her family history, uncovering both Grace’s tragic, forgotten love story and startling revelations about her own parentage. Grace and Matilda’s lives parallel each other as both exhibit quiet bravery, fall in love with artists, and develop intense connections with the lighthouses they tend. Gaynor’s writing is capable, though the story is slight and the link between centuries feels tenuous at times. The novel will appeal to fans of low-key women’s fiction, but readers looking for drama won’t find it here. Agent: Michelle Brower, Aevitas Creative Management.

May 1, 2018

Living at Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands off Northumberland's coast, Grace Darling became a national heroine in 1838 when she and her father rescued nine shipwrecked people. Her real-life story is woven into that of pregnant teenager Matilda Emmerson, sent from Ireland in disgrace to live with a relative at a Newport, RI, lighthouse in 1938. Following the New York Times best-selling The Cottingley Secret.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2018

Gaynor's latest novel (after The Cottingley Secret and Last Christmas in Paris) revolves around three women and the choices they make. Grace Darling is the daughter of the keeper of the Longstone Lighthouse in England. In 1838, Grace and her father rescue Sarah Dawson from a shipwreck and are at the center of a storm of unwanted fame. Sarah's artist brother George Emmerson is drawn to Grace by more than her heroics, although he is engaged to another. A century later, Matilda Emmerson, unwed and pregnant at 19, is banished from Ireland to Newport, RI. She's chaperoned by Harriet Flaherty, an enigmatic relative, who has her own secrets. Told from multiple points of view, the story slowly reveals the connections among the main characters. Gaynor uses rich language and metaphors to convey the inner lives of the women through their experiences suffused with tragedy. VERDICT Readers seeking a deep examination of bravery in the face of grief and the strength of women in families will appreciate this title. [See Prepub Alert, 4/9/18.]--Sara Scoggan, Fishkill, NY

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.