The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter: A Novel

About this book

From The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Came Home comes a historical novel inspired by true events and the extraordinary female lighthouse keepers of the past two hundred years. They call me a heroine but I am not deserving of such accolades. I am just an ordinary young woman who did her duty. 1838: Northumberland England. Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands has been Grace Darlings home for all of her twenty-two years. When she and her father rescue shipwreck survivors in a furious storm Grace becomes celebrated throughout England the subject of poems ballads and plays. But far more precious than her unsought fame is the friendship that develops between Grace and a visiting artist. Just as George Emmerson captures Grace with his brushes she in turn captures his heart. 1938: Newport Rhode Island. Nineteen-years-old and pregnant Matilda Emmerson has been sent away from Ireland in disgrace. She is to stay with Harriet a reclusive relative and assistant lighthouse keeper until her baby is born. A discarded half-finished portrait opens a window into Matildas family history. As a deadly hurricane approaches two women living a century apart will be linked forever by their instinctive acts of courage and love.