Women of the Lights by Candace Fleming, James Watling (Illustrator)

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-Fleming presents fascinating information about the various women who tended American lighthouses despite horrible weather and sometimes great personal tragedy. The introduction reaches back to 1768 and the role Hannah Thomas played in protecting the Massachusetts coast during the American Revolution. The author devotes separate chapters to Ida Lewis, described at her funeral as "...the most remarkable woman Newport [RI] ever produced"; Kate Walker, who raised a family while serving as a lighthouse keeper; Harriet Colfax, who tended the Michigan City Lighthouse; and Emily Fish, who tended the Point Pinos Lighthouse in Monterey, CA, and brought with her a remarkably elegant lifestyle. The text is easy to read, clear, and well organized. Black-and-white illustrations and photographs, particularly of the subjects in their corsets and long skirts, reinforce just how unusual these women were. A book that will attract adventure-seekers and history buffs from coast to coast.-Joan Soulliere, Wenham Public Library, MA

BookList

Discussing the history of women as American lighthouse keepers, Fleming begins in Revolutionary War days and continues into the twentieth century, when the Coast Guard took over lighthouses, updated their technology, and gradually retired the civilian keepers. Four chapters highlight individual women noted for their courage in rescues at sea and their tenacity in tending the lamps: Ida Lewis of Newport, Rhode Island; Kate Walker of New York Harbor; Harriet Colfax of Michigan City, Indiana; and Emily Fish of California's Monterey Peninsula. The last chapter introduces a number of other women who gained renown as lighthouse keepers. Drawings with gray washes illustrate dramatic scenes of adventure, and black-and-white photographs provide glimpses of the lighthouses and their keepers. Source notes provide a sense of the research behind this intriguing, well-written book.

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