My Review:

Wow! A MUST READ! Fiction that addresses the possible future in climate change by sharing the beautiful life story of Wanda, a true survivor. Dive in to The Light Pirate and you will become enamored with this young girl who has a special connection to nature and learns to live off the land and thrive.

Kirby Lowe works as an electrician in a small town in Florida. During yet another dangerous hurricane, his young sons go missing and he leaves his pregnant wife all alone while he is out searching for them in the whipping winds and rain. Unexpectedly, she goes into premature labor and gives birth to a baby girl, Wanda, named after the devastating storm she was born into. Kirby, his family and one of the neighbors, Phyllis do their best to stay rooted in their hometown, attempting to rebuild, and adapt, and for years they ride out the ongoing tropical storms. With other electrical linesmen, Kirby is responsible for keeping the lights on, even as conditions worsen, but ultimately it becomes impossible. The coast has been destroyed by the elements due to climate change and when the state decides to shut off all services and evacuate the residents and workers, the Lowe’s and their neighbors have to make a decision to abandon their homes or stay and live off the land.

Author Lily Brooks-Dalton has written about Florida in a way that is terrifyingly possible if we continue to experience climate change. With increasing storms and elevated temperatures, the coastline could wash away and without solid infrastructure, roads, bridges and trains could be destroyed allowing for civilization to crumble and ultimately feel like it reverted back in time. in addition, with elements of hope, Brooks-Dalton’s wonderful characters draw you in and her immersive settings capture the beauty of nature and its power, making for an incredible read! I highly recommend this book!

Special thanks to author Heather Frimmer for recommending this one to me!

About the Author:

Lily Brooks-Dalton’s most recent novel is The Light Pirate, a #1 Indie Next pick for December 2022, a Good Morning America Book Club selection, one of NPR’s “Books We Love,” and a New York Times Editors’ Pick. She is also the author of Good Morning, Midnight, which has been translated into seventeen languages and was the inspiration for the film adaptation The Midnight Sky, and the memoir, Motorcycles I’ve Loved, which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. A former writer-in-residence at The Kerouac House and The Studios of Key West, she currently lives in Los Angeles.

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