Island Light

Snow Island #3

by Katherine Towler

In the summer, Snow Island is overrun by New England’s well-heeled families looking for recreation and relaxation. With the coming of the off-season, the island is left to its hardscrabble residents, an eclectic and stoic community bound by connections that run deep. In the fall of 1990, the islanders include a Vietnam veteran, an aging lesbian, and a photographer seeking to redefine herself and her art, an unlikely trio who find their lives unexpectedly linked.
Though Snow Island remains a world away from the mainland, it is not immune to the effects of war. Old wounds and new uncertainties come to the surface as the United States prepares to go to war again, this time in the Persian Gulf. In the silence of a New England winter, former residents and prodigal wanderers return to Snow Island in search of refuge from wars both private and public.
Through a rich collection of characters and a tightly-woven story, Island Light traces a path from the scars of the past to the promise of the future. This taut tale of love and perseverance, told in stunning prose, evokes the isolation and connection at the heart of every community.

Genres: Fiction

328 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Katherine Towler is author of The Penny Poet of Portsmouth: A Memoir of Place, Solitude, and Friendship and the novels Snow Island, Evening Ferry,and Island Light. This literary trilogy is set on a fictional New England island and takes place between the early 1940s and early 1990s, chronicling the lives of two generations in two island families and the impact of war on the island community. Katherine is also co-editor with Ilya Kaminsky of A God in the House: Poets Talk About Faith, a collection of conversations with poets. All three of her novels were Indiebound selected titles. Snow Island was also chosen as a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers title. Katherine grew up in New York City and attended the University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins, and the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College. She teaches in the MFA Program in Writing at Southern New Hampshire University. She is happy to hear from book groups and to arrange Skype visits.

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed her last two books. I remember reading them and being so interested in the characters. For whatever reason, this one did not hold my attention or engage me with the characters. It felt like just a story about these people that live on an island and lived however they wanted to after. Really can't say I'm interested in finding out more. It really was just a nice story about some people who live on an island.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which I must have bought 10 years ago at a Boston book festival.
Looking for the first two in the series.

Even though it seems soap opera-y at times, it's really a book about living on an island, being in human relationships, and doing the best you can with what you have.

I like her characters. Many seemed real; some reminded me of people in my childhood hometown

[Melody Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of the trilogy- left a loose end without resolution for one of the main characters

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The finale to a beautiful series.

[Julie Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Island Light by Katherine Towler
I love this series because it's about the island where I grew up in the Narragansett Bay, RI area.
This one starts out with Ruth and her camera. She lives at the inn on the east side. I was a waitress there when it was a restaurant.
Nick lives on the west side and takes care of the twin houses-which are still standing for real on the west side of the island.
There is the lighthouse and also the schoolhouse but I don't recall the lookout tower-maybe it's the one on the Navy Base section as we were friends with the commander in the 60's we were able to go there often to meet up with our girlfriends.
Starts out in Sept and when I started reading this last book of the series it was Sept, the island had just suffered a loss of a house built in the 1800's and one islander died. He was the grandson of a character in the previous books. So sad.
I keep putting off finishing this book because I do not want it to end. It's about a place in time that is no longer. I see the island every month and it's charm in the winter is great, but as summer approaches it loses some of what it has left.
Love reading about the rogue radio broadcasts and can just picture them from the house on the west side...
A hard life to those who winter there but to them it's life simplified...
I still travel to the island once a month for a few days and can picture myself retiring there...

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last book of a trilogy concerning the people who live on a remote island off the coast of Rhode Island. I've enjoyed each of the books, but had a problem with the amount of time between the publication of each book. The second book in the trilogy was published five years ago. I had a difficult time remembering the history of each of the characters. The author fills in some of the details, but I felt I needed to go back and reread the first two books to get the full picture. The book contains lovely lyrical descriptions of the island and the sea. There were several typos, which I hope will be corrected before the second edition comes out.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this one on my Kindle. Ms. Towler writes beautifully, I just wish that I didn't have to wait so long between books. While it's not my favorite book in the trilogy, it is far better than alot of the stuff published by "authors" lately that are being passed off as books. I can't wait for her next book.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really care very much about these characters. When the book was done I wasn't curious about what they might do next----very unusual for me.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO this is the question: Why hasn't this series been picked up by PBS? It's perfect for them. Good writing. Great read.

[Peg B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it but not as good as her earlier 2 books.

[Monica Sanderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing happened.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first 2 books.