The Lightkeeper's Daughter by Colleen Coble

Summary

Addie Sullivan leads a quiet life in a northern California lighthouse. She mourns the death of her father and endured her mother’s bitterness, until the night a storm brings an inured stranger and a dark secret to her home. The man insists she is not who she thinks she is, but rather “Julia Eaton”—the child long lost and feared dead by her wealthy family. Seizing the chance to be reunited with the Eatons, Addie leaves her lighthouse home but decides to keep her true identity a secret until they can unravel the mystery.

Addie loves the Eaton’s palatial home tucked away among the California redwood forests. She feels secure with the jovial family, adores the young boy who is her charge as a governess, and finds romance with his father John, a young widower. But sinister shadows overtake Addie’s joy. As dusty rooms and secret compartments give up their clues about her past, Addie finds a faith and a love she could never have guessed. To embrace this new world of promise is to risk her life; but to run away is to risk losing the greatest love she’s ever known.

• Number of pages: 306

Review

If you have read the summary to this book then you will understand that this is a Christian book with lots of spiritual messages intertwined with each word. Being a Christian, I myself enjoyed this book thoroughly as it opened up a few points in my faith. Books like this one tends to remind me of things I’ve either overlooked in my faith or never acknowledged. That how it works for me, but, understandably, that is not how it works for every, and I respect that. Which means I also appreciate respect back on my own views.

With that said, I will get on with my review of The Lightkeeper’s Daughter. This is just the kind of book that I use to read when I was younger, when I first started opening myself up to the love of reading. It reminded me of that time because it was sweet in nature, mystery to decipher, a simple love story, and is takes place in the past. I have always had a special sweet spot for historical fictions, and this one happened to take place in one of my favorite times. A time of ladies gowns, bowler hats, and manners is where I found Addie. The time gave the characters a charming nature where I really felt the differences between my time and theirs. That has always interested me, and it was especially highlighted in this book.

The plot itself was interesting enough. Don’t you just hate when a mystery’s answers seem obvious? That wasn’t the case with this book. Well, to be honest, when the mystery was coming to a close I found myself anticipating the answer before it was revealed, which was kind of disappointing in a way but didn’t ruin the whole book’s experience at the same time.

On the religion aspect of this story, I found it subtly yet firm in its beliefs. I liked that. I didn’t feel like the main character, or in this case the author, was shoving her beliefs down my throat, but being a Christian who was looking for the religiousness of the story was intrigued by the little lessons I received from it. I found that while there were obvious religious feelings, I do believe that if you aren’t of the same faith you could still pick up the book and enjoy the story. It was a sweet story if that is what you might decide to do. So from 1-10? The Lightkeeper’s Daughters  is a 6.5