Quentin Wilson Publishing, 2023
The beam of a lighthouse – bringing hope, knowledge and safety in dark and uncertain places. But what if the lighthouse keeper himself is lost?
In 1977, in the shelter of a remote Aotearoa lighthouse, Annie wraps her arms around her two orphaned grandchildren.
Her husband Bill, the keeper, shares old stories of the sea, sailors and the son he has lost, broken himself but doing what he can to help the children navigate their new lives. But how secure can they all be, with the looming threat of lighthouse closures and automation?
Forty years later, those grandchildren are adrift again, disconnected from each other and the lighthouse home that once anchored them. Buffeted by life, Jess and Robert find themselves drawn back towards the past, their grandfather’s stories and the world of the sea.
Light Keeping draws on the richness of family stories and their role in defining and connecting us. It is a story of hope and reconnection – of finding, and keeping, the light.
In her clear, understated way, Adrienne Jansen leads you up a coastal road and breaks your heart.
– Sue McCauley
It’s a rolling swell of a story that kept me reading through the night.
– Cristina Sanders
A quiet and tender novel that sidesteps melodrama, leaning into the natural world to explore human frailty and resilience.
– Sue Orr
Short-listed for the Michael Gifkins Prize, 2021
Short-listed for the NZ Booklovers Award for Best Adult Fiction Book, 2023
Light Keeping Notes for book groups
Background information, Q & A with the author, questions for discussion.
Price: $37.50
Order from: quentinwilsonpublishing.com