Lighthouse by Eugenia Price
Lighthouse by Eugenia Price
Lighthouse tells the story of James Gould, a young man from western Massachusetts, who comes of age in the years following the American Revolution. James has dreams that are bigger than those of his family and friends. He yearns to leave the bitter cold of New England and make his home in the southern part of the United States, and he aims to become a builder; specifically, he dreams of building a lighthouse, even though he has never traveled to any coastline and has never seen a lighthouse. James pursues his dreams with dogged determination, making many adjustments along the way to accommodate the dramatically changing circumstances that life has in store for him.
Lighthouse is presented in simple, straightforward language, and the tone is sincere. There are many a heartfelt moment as children come into the world and relatives of James and his wife Jane pass away. Ms. Price presents a convincing portrait of life in the decades that follow the founding of the United States of America, in both the north and the south of the country. Interestingly, the critical issue of slavery is discussed and is not completely condemned. James Gould, who hates the idea of slavery, reluctantly becomes a slaveowner himself, to rescue the slaves he acquires from a worse fate. The slaves become an important part of the lives of James and his family, and there is a great deal of affection and mutual admiration between James and his wife and some of the slaves.
Lighthouse does have some weaknesses. The characters tend to be all good or all bad, all weak or all strong, and are sometimes just not believable. James’ wife Jane, for example, is a caricature of the perfect wife: she is beautiful, kind, considerate, wise, supportive, loving, understanding, trusting, uncomplaining and obedient. If there is any disagreement between Jane and James, it is that Jane is satisfied with the modest cottage James has built as their home and is not particularly interested in moving to the grand home that James aims to build for her.
Some of the major turning points in the plot are predictable. As an example, James’ first love is an attractive young woman who cares for him but wishes he were less serious and more jovial. When James invites his family, including his mother, sister and fun-loving, light-hearted, younger brother Horace, to live with him in Bangor, where James has established himself, what could possibly go wrong? Of course, the young woman falls for Horace, which is heartbreaking for James, and since James is ashamed to remain in the tight knit community of Bangor, this stroke of bad luck frees him up to pursue his dream of moving south.
Overall, Lighthouse is a good book, but not a great book. It ends unexpectedly, at the height of a crisis in the lives of the main characters, but perhaps this is intentional: this is the first book in the Saint Simons trilogy, and the reader must check out the sequel to find out what happens next.