The Engine Woman's Light

Laurel Anne Hill

2017 • 352 pages

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A mystical vision of an airship appears to fifteen-year-old Juanita. The ethereal captain commands her to prevent California's thrown-away people--including young children--from boarding trains to an asylum. That institution's director plots murder to reduce the inmate population. Yet to save innocent lives Juanita must take lives of the corrupt. How can she reconcile her assignment with her belief in the sacredness of all human life? And will she survive to marry her betrothed? Juanita sets out despite inner trepidation to sabotage the railroad. Her ancestor Billy guides her. Then bit by bit, she discovers the gut-wrenching truths all of her ancestors neglected to reveal. Come visit Juanita's world--an alternate nineteenth-century California--where spirits meet steampunk, where both love and anger emanate from beyond the grave.

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Tabitha TomalaEarly Adopter

As an infant, Juanita was given up and put on the asylum train. Destined to be forgotten with the rest of California's unwanted people. But guided by the spirit of her dead husband, Juanita's great grandmother boards the train and rescues her before she ever reaches her destination. Years later, Juanita has inherited her great grandmother's gift of seeing spirits and receives a vision. She must stop the trains and save those trapped in the asylum. If she doesn't not only will her village be wiped out but innocent of the asylum will be murdered one by one.

This is not a story for those who want nonstop action. It's what I call a build up book, taking it's time to develop the characters and the world around them. Unfortunately, it does miss the mark on some key points with its world building. Character backgrounds are left out, and the politics of the world are completely omitted. This leaves the reader wondering how exactly the world works. Juanita's spiritual powers also have no defined rules. They seem to come and go without any apparent pattern.

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June 11, 2019