The Voyage of the Morning Light

April 15, 2020
Two sisters sail around the world. It's 1911, and after her much older half sister marries a ship's captain, teenage Kay joins them onboard the Morning Light for a trip around the world. Their strict father has recently died, and as they travel, the sisters find themselves still haunted by his legacy: He'd run a school for Native American children in remote Canada, where scores of students apparently died from tuberculosis. Now Kay suffers from nightmares so severe she wakes up screaming. But as the trip continues, both Kay and her sister, Thea, begin to have a look around them. Kay begins studying ancient Greek with a goofy English pastor who's joined them. Things change when Thea, who longs for a child, adopts a young boy from a poor Micronesian island. Kay is troubled by the adoption, though she can't immediately articulate why. Endicott depicts her characters with great delicacy and sympathy. Kay, especially, is a wonder to behold: She's barely a teenager when the novel begins, and to witness her first encounters with the world, as she quietly unravels her own feelings and beliefs about what she sees, is simply marvelous. The novel's second half shifts in time and mood in a way that feels both surprising and exactly right. There is so much in this book to linger over, from Kay and Thea's relationship with each other to the strength and autonomy of Kay's mind to Endicott's lyrical descriptions of the sea and the ship. It's a novel to return to again and again. Endicott's latest novel is a quiet, elegant triumph with no easy answers.

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Starred review from May 15, 2020
As the ward of her much older half-sister, Thea, Kay has no choice but to accompany her when Thea marries Francis Grant, the captain of the Morning Light, in 1912. As they leave a troubled past behind as missionaries to a First Nations community in Canada, the sisters embark on a journey that will take them from New England to Shanghai. Kay is periodically besieged by traumatic memories and must work to control her tender emotions and tame her adventurous spirit. After Thea miscarries her first child and is cast into a deep melancholy, she finds hope when they adopt Aren, a native Micronesian boy whose life is challenged by violence and starvation. Aren and Kay develop an enduring sibling relationship that will be harshly challenged by prevailing social prejudices. Sweeping, seafaring coming-of-age novels about young men are standard fare. What makes Endicott's contribution to the genre, which is based on a true story, so noteworthy is the grit, determination and charm of her young female adventurer. Endicott artfully combines a bracing world voyage and the equally transformative journey of a young woman discovering and honoring her genuine nature. With her passion for all the creatures and cultures she encounters, Kay shines as a timely embodiment of the solace of human connection across time and space.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)