Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter
1838: when a terrible storm blows up off the Northumberland coast, Grace Darling, the lighthouse-keeper’s daughter, knows there is little chance of survival for the passengers on the small ship battling the waves. But her actions set in motion an incredible feat of bravery that echoes down the century.
1938: when nineteen-year-old Matilda Emmerson sails across the Atlantic to New England, she faces an uncertain future. Staying with her reclusive relative, Harriet Flaherty, a lighthouse keeper on Rhode Island, Matilda discovers a discarded portrait that opens a window on to a secret that will change her life forever.
Hazel Gaynor is an award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, Irish Times and internationally bestselling author known for her historical novels which explore the defining events of the 20th century. A debut author recipient of the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award, her work has since been shortlisted for the 2019 HWA Gold Crown Award, the 2020 RNA Awards, and the Irish Book Awards in 2017, 2020 and 2023. THE BIRD IN THE BAMBOO CAGE was a bestseller in the USA and her most recent novel, THE LAST LIFEBOAT, was a Times of London historical novel of the month and a 2024 Audie winner for Best Fiction Narrator. Hazel's next novel, BEFORE DOROTHY, will be published in June 2025. Her co-written historical novels with Heather Webb have all been published to critical acclaim. Their latest collaboration, CHRISTMAS WITH THE QUEEN, will be published in November 2024. Her work has been translated into 20 languages in 27 territories to date. She lives in Ireland with her family.