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by Jean E. Pendziwol (Author)
"A remarkable achievement . . . a story of commitment, identity, and familial loyalty that will leave one in tears. Five out of five stars."--New York Journal of Books
In her mesmerizing adult debut set on the shores of the Great Lakes, critically acclaimed children's author Jean E. Pendziwol delivers an affecting story of family, identity, and art involving a decades-old mystery.
Elizabeth, whose failing eyes have confined her to a senior home, is reflecting on her life, looking to unravel the mysteries of her family, especially that of her beautiful, enigmatic twin sister Emily. Sixteen-year-old Morgan has lived in foster care since she was a young child, bouncing from home to home, searching for one where she belongs.
When the journals belonging to Elizabeth's late father are discovered after a tragic accident, she enlists the help of Morgan, who is completing community service at the senior home, to decipher the faded words. With a shared love of art and music, this unlikely pair are drawn deep into a world far removed - to Porphyry Island on Lake Superior, where Elizabeth's father and his wife served as lighthouse keepers and raised their young family during the First and Second World Wars.
As a complex web of secrets unravels, Elizabeth and Morgan realize that their fates are connected to each other and to the isolated island, in this vividly written novel about the lengths people will go for love.
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Though her mind is still sharp, Elizabeth's eyes have failed. No longer able to linger over her beloved books or gaze at the paintings that move her spirit, she fills the void with music and memories of her family--a past that suddenly becomes all too present when her late father's journals are found after a tragic accident.
With the help of Morgan, a delinquent teenager performing community service, Elizabeth goes through the diaries, a journey through time that brings the two women closer together. Entry by entry, these unlikely friends are drawn deep into a world far removed from their own--to Porphyry Island on Lake Superior, where Elizabeth's father manned the lighthouse seventy years before.
As the words on these musty pages come alive, Elizabeth and Morgan begin to realize that their fates are connected to the isolated island in ways they never dreamed. While the discovery of Morgan's connection sheds light on her own family mysteries, the faded pages of the journals hold more questions than answers for Elizabeth, and threaten the very core of who she is.
