The lighthouse

by David Rees

Victoria Stephens is on holiday in the Greek Islands with her best friend Sarah. It is the first time she has ever been away without her parents. When she not only hears that she has passed her A-levels with good enough grades to take up the university place she has been offered, but also meets a boy, Leslie Radford, who comes to mean more to her than any previous boyfriend, it becomes the perfect holiday.

But, however marvellous holiday romances may seem at the time, they have a tendency to collapse when the couple returns home and pick up the threads of normal life.

Victoria finds Leslie a very different person once they are back in England. The rest of the summer and her first term at Cambridge University are a difficult time for her, despite help from her brother, Ben.

Then, just before Christmas, Leslie and Victoria meet again, and try to sort out the tangle of problems that have almost destroyed their love affair.

136 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

David Rees was born in London in 1936, but lived most of his adult life in Devon, where for many years he taught English Literature at Exeter University and at California State University, San Jose. In 1984, he took early retirement in order to write full-time. Author of forty-two books, he is best known for his children's novel The Exeter Blitz, which in 1978 was awarded the Carnegie Medal (UK), and The Milkman's On His Way, which, having survived much absurd controversy in Parliament, is now regarded as something of a gay classic. He also won The Other Award (UK) for his historical novel The Green Bough of Liberty. David Rees died in 1993.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another thoughtful work from Rees about the pleasures and pains of coming to adulthood. Really one of his best.