The plain, boring fence of the Boreal Retirement Home needed Morgan Fletcher's graffiti art to liven it up a bit. Unfortunately, she was caught and is now forced to do community service, scraping away all of the old paint and repainting it. Elizabeth Livingstone is a resident at the home, spending her days remembering the beauty her eyes can no longer see. A parcel containing old journals will bring Morgan and Elizabeth together and change both of their lives forever.
Told through alternating viewpoints, THE LIGHTKEEPER'S DAUGHTERS seamlessly weaves between past and present. I admit I have a soft spot for Morgan. Morgan is quite prickly, as she's lost the only people she loves and is now sheltered in the foster care system. Morgan isn't your typical companion for someone in a senior home, but she is the perfect match for Elizabeth. I also love how Jean E. Pendziwol portrays Morgan's foster parents as it's refreshing to see the positivity.
Oh how I loved this story! From the characters to the setting, each aspect is perfect. THE LIGHTKEEPER'S DAUGHTERS is one of the best books that I've read this year and I think would be even better on audio (something I intend to explore in the near future). Jean E. Pendziwol paints a stark, haunting story of love, loss and betrayal in THE LIGHTKEEPER'S DAUGHTERS. THE LIGHTKEEPER'S DAUGHTERS is one of those beautifully written stories that you can read over and is highly recommended.
With the haunting atmosphere and emotional power of The Language of Flowers, Orphan Train, and The Light Between Oceans, critically acclaimed children’s author Jean E. Pendziwol’s adult debut is an affecting story of family, identity, and art that involves a decades-old mystery. Though her mind is still sharp, Elizabeth’s eyes have failed. No longer able to linger over her beloved books or gaze at the paintings that move her spirit, she fills the void with music and memories of her family, especially her beloved twin sister, Emily. When her late father’s journals are discovered after an accident, the past suddenly becomes all too present. With the help of Morgan, a delinquent teenager performing community service at her senior home, Elizabeth goes through the diaries, a journey through time that brings the two women closer together. Entry by entry, these unlikely friends are drawn deep into a world far removed from their own, to Porphyry Island on Lake Superior, where Elizabeth’s father manned the lighthouse and raised his young family seventy years before. As the words on these musty pages come alive, Elizabeth and Morgan begin to realize that their fates are connected to the isolated island in ways they never dreamed. While the discovery of Morgan’s connection sheds light onto her own family mysteries, the faded pages of the journals will shake the foundation of everything Elizabeth thinks she knows and bring the secrets of the past into the light.
© 2003-2026