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The Woman At The Light (2012)

by Joanna Brady(Favorite Author)

3.95 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1250003563 (ISBN13: 9781250003560)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

St. Martin's Griffin

review 1: This historical fiction is part soap opera, romance, and history. I recently read "The Light Between Oceans" which was more of a thought provoking historical fiction. That is why my attention was drawn to this book. I had not known anything about New Orleans and Key West during the early to mid 1800's, the time of slavery. That part of this story was educational, assuming that Brady did her research and represented how it really was. The heroine is a woman ahead of her time, not wanting to be cast in the typical role of women at that time. Brady informed and entertained me.
review 2: I found this historical romance both entertaining and unbelievably over-the-top--if such a combination is possible! (SPOILER ALERT) In 1839, Emily Lowry and her husband maintai... moren the lighthouse on an isolated island off Key West, Florida. One afternoon he never returns from a fishing trip, leaving her alone with three children and another on the way. Emily struggles to keep up with the lighthouse duties and receives unexpected help when a runaway slave washes ashore. Andrew is a godsend and, under Emily's somewhat reluctant tutelage, becomes well-educated. Eventually they fall in love and have a daughter. Up to this point--about two-thirds through the book--I actually enjoyed the novel, despite some of the more far-fetched plot points. Brady writes well, and the descriptions of southern Florida are bewitching (and Key West's history intriguing). Emily is a strong-willed, capable woman coping with a life she didn't anticipate. However, once a hurricane threatens and the family is separated, the book falls apart. Brady zooms through major events and throws in villainy and deception right and left. Character development is non-existent. Her purpose simply seems to be to move Emily into old age. I was particularly disappointed in the minimal attention paid to Emily's children and sister. And, given that Emily was raised in New Orleans (half-French, half-English), she behaved in far too an "independent American" way over the course of the entire book to be realistic, based on what I've read about that city. less

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