The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter

Description

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 Darling's 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 Matilda's 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.

Hazel Gaynor is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of A Memory of Violets and The Girl Who Came Home, for which she received the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award. Her third novel, The Girl from the Savoy, was an Irish Times and Globe & Mail Canada bestseller, and was shortlisted for the BGE Irish Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year. In 2017, she has published The Cottingley Secret and Last Christmas in Paris. Hazel was selected by US Library Journal as one of 'Ten Big Breakout Authors' for 2015 and her work has been translated into several languages. Hazel lives in Ireland with her husband and two children.

"...the many complicated women in it add a few more members to the women lighthouse keepers who perhaps, in their own small ways, lit the way for the women of today."--Book Riot "Gaynor's narrative seamlessly flows between the eras and the women, chronicling their longing, their pain, and their quiet triumphs...Based on the real life of Grace Darling and two fierce storms, Gaynor's tale is both heartbreaking and captivating."--Historical Novel Society "Gaynor has always been a better writer than her peers, and this exquisite, thoroughly researched book places her a clear head and shoulders above the rest."--Sunday Independent "A splendid read--The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter is not to be missed!"--Kate Quinn, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Alice Network "Hazel Gaynor's skillful artistry as a storyteller glitters like the sun..."--Susan Meissner, New York Times Bestselling Author of As Bright as Heaven "This is historical fiction at its finest."--Fiona Davis, national bestselling author of The Masterpiece