The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter

Hazel Gaynor is a treasure! This book was incredible. I enjoy all of Gaynors novels but this one was magnificent. And it's a true story! Incredible writing.

BOOK CLUB READ

I'm sure that for those who like these types of books this was a great read. I didn't hate. I was just bored and new where it was going from the outset. At one time I was an avid reader of this genre and I enjoyed them well enough but I can't say they're my cup of tea anymore. I'll watch these stories as adapted for a Lifetime miniseries.

I've come to think of them as the good for you, learn things, empowering reads that I'm past caring about.

As usual YMMV

Get ready for a book that is going to jump you through a few timelines, and leave you wondering what could have been.
Grace Darling is the lighthouse keeper's daughter. She loves her life on the island, the quiet and the seclusion. One night is going to change all of that with the shipwreck that happens close to their lighthouse. She is thrust into the limelight and gains notoriety that she does not want. She was doing her job and preferred for it to be left as such.

Matilda Emerson is a woman in disgrace. Pregnant and unmarried, she is shuffled out of Ireland to a distant relative in America. As their tenuous relationship progresses, Matilda learns that there is much more to Harriet than she first thought - and she is determined to learn the truth.

This was a fabulous book and one that I truly enjoyed reading! The timelines are laid out easily enough so that you don't get lost, and the stories intertwine neatly, leaving you satisfied at the end. I enjoyed the twists and turns (not sharing those, you have to read for yourself), and the threads that pull neatly together to reveal the stubborn courage of these women - and their connections to the lighthouse.

I was really interested in the history of Grace Darling but the book was just not very good. The writing style was so tedious to read and every emotion a character feels is spelled out on the page. The “future” section in the 30s features an absolutely ridiculous plot twist and a needless character death (it's framed as a good thing but I have no idea why) and implies that adoptive mothers can't be “real” mothers. This book annoyed me in every possible way.