I saw this book everywhere when it was first released. I saw rave reviews and my interest was piqued. I do read a lot of historical fiction and this one seemed like something I would enjoy.
The best part of the book, something I definitely need to mention up front is the writing. The author has the ability to weave words in such a way that the story seems very deep and colourful. The emotions are also very vivid. That said, I felt like there were too many narratives which had me torn with my loyalty. We have Grace and Sarah in the past: 1838 and we have Matilda and Harriet in the present. We also have George (Sarah’s brother) with his own voice in the past timeline. All of these people are so well written, with their own grievances, joys, and sorrows that it became a little hard for me to decide on whom to shower my maximum attention on.
In the current timeline of 1938 we have Matilda travelling to USA to have her baby in secret. She learns a lot through the entire journey, another thing she learns is that her assessment of people may not always be the right one. She is to live with a distant relative, Harriet. Harry is a lighthouse Keeper and this seems to be the common vein running through the entire book because the past storyline, in 1838 focuses on a real woman Light Keeper named Grace. Grace is torn between her love for her place with the lighthouse and the way futures are dictated by norms that have no place for her emotions. One courageous act turns her life upside down. There is a lot packed into the tale, multiple families, multiple losses and a lot of hopes. If the writing was not as good as it was I might not have enjoyed unpacking it all.
I would recommend this to readers of the historical fiction genre because we can glean a lot about the social behaviours of the time as well as how people led their daily lives.
It is still available for request on NetGalley, I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers but the review is completely based on my own reading experience.
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