Review - The Lighthousekeepers Daughter by Hazel Gaynor

The Lighthousekeepers Daughter by Hazel Gaynor - my review

Can I give it six out of ten please?

The minute I heard about this book I knew I had to read it.
Not only have I read and loved work by this delightful author before, including The Cottingley Secret.

Not only is it a dual time frame historical novel with BOTH timelines set in the past (joy)
but the subject is very dear to my heart ..... (tells a little story of own)
"When I was about 7 years old I remember my (now late) Aunt, tracing our family tree on my Mums side. I was told she had traced it back to the 1800s where she had found a strong family link to Grace Darling. I went to school and told my teacher who incorporated Grace Darling into a lesson. Tragically, my Aunt died and the family tree research she had done has never surfaced. I dabbled with genealogy myself but didn't manage to go into as much depth as she must have and couldn't verify the link but anything connected with this heroine of the North East instantly grips my imagination".

I'm delighted to say that Hazel Gaynor has done Grace Darling great justice and woven a wonderful, heartwarming story around her life and the lives of future generations of light keepers, in this wonderful book about daughters and love, bravery and loyalty, loss and determination.

Two stories interweave skilfully, that of Grace herself in 1838 on the Northumbrian coast, tangles with the stories of Matilda and Harriet 100 years later on the other side of the world.

I will say no more about the storyline as I want everyone to read this book and love it even half as much as I did. I wept brokenly at the end, which is extremely emotional, throughout the book it is haunting and lovely, even when you know it can't end well for everyone there is a tender poignancy and lovely little twists that wrench your heartstrings this way and that.

The Blurb

“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.