Relationships

 

The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor is based on the historical facts of the shipwreck of the SS Forfarshire in 1838. Sarah Dawson survived but her two children did not. Sarah was saved by the daughter who helped her father tend Longstone Lighthouse, along the Farne Islands off the Northumberland Coast of England. I couldn't help but think of the song"It is well with my soul." This song was written by the father who lost his children in a shipwreck. How heart-wrenching! The story fast forwards about 100 years to another woman who tends to the upkeep of the lighthouse. The women are related and that's the story. How the stories blend together is the plot. If you like stories about strong, courageous women then you'll enjoy this novel.  What I couldn't get over was the coincidence of name choice.  The story begins with Sarah Dawson.  Dawson was my maiden name.  The other story involves a woman by my married name, Harriet Flaherty.  Names are fine, but I don't want to be related to any of those tragedies.  Please God, no.