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Lighthouse Loyalty
Nine-year-old Susan Rose Arnold isn’t sure if she will like living at a new lighthouse location along the Long Island Sound. She’s had to leave her best friends behind, and her strange uncle will be living with her family to help Father with lighthouse duties.
As Susan, her siblings, parents, and uncle settle into their daily responsibilities, she hides her loneliness, creates a secret, and decides to write poetry. She also wonders about Uncle Richard’s mysterious past and thinks he harbors a secret too.
With each passing week, dark shadows surround them as they strive to keep the large light clean and burning. Could some of the secrets be related to the recently ended Civil War? Will the secrets tear Susan’s family apart or bring them closer together, strengthening their loyalty?
As Susan, her siblings, parents, and uncle settle into their daily responsibilities, she hides her loneliness, creates a secret, and decides to write poetry. She also wonders about Uncle Richard’s mysterious past and thinks he harbors a secret too.
With each passing week, dark shadows surround them as they strive to keep the large light clean and burning. Could some of the secrets be related to the recently ended Civil War? Will the secrets tear Susan’s family apart or bring them closer together, strengthening their loyalty?
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 29, 2017
About the author
Sarah Kay Bierle
9 books39 followersSarah Kay Bierle, a historian, writer, and living history enthusiast, has wanted to write books since she penned a first sketch of "Blue, Gray & Crimson" at the age of nine. Sarah was homeschooled for K-12, completed an accelerated distance learning program for college, and graduated from Thomas Edison State University with a BA in History. When not researching or writing, Sarah enjoys spending time with her parents and siblings, volunteering, playing music, quilting, or visiting with close friends. She desires to share a message of hope in Christ through her daily life and writing.
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March 6, 2018
It is 1867, and nine-year-old Susannah (Susan) Rose Arnold lives with her father Samuel, mother Harriet, two younger brothers Jacob, six, and Paul, five, and baby sister Marian. Mr. Arnold is a lighthouse keeper, and the family has just moved from their previous lighthouse on Lake Erie to a bigger one at Herdman Point on Long Island Sound. They are joined by Mama’s brother, Uncle Richard Bates, whom Susan is meeting for the first time, as assistant lighthouse keeper. However, Uncle Richard is morose and somewhat uncommunicative. It seems as if he is keeping some deep, dark secrets. Susan misses her best friends Jane and Anna terribly, so she decides that if her uncle can have a secret, she can keep her loneliness a secret too and starts to write poetry to cover it up.
However, Father’s boss, Inspector Milton, and the visiting Miss Elsie Sherman, whose father has come to the lighthouse to paint the scenery, both seem to have some connection to Uncle Richard’s mysterious past. Could any of his secrets be related to the recently ended Civil War? Will these secrets tear Susan’s family apart? Or can they find some way to deal with them so as to bring them closer together and strengthen their loyalty? Author Sarah Kay Bierle is a historian, writer, and living history enthusiast who was homeschooled K-12, completed an accelerated distance learning program for college, graduated from Thomas Edison State University with a B.A. in History, and currently serves as co-managing editor for the Emerging Civil War blog. Her first two historical books were Gray and Crimson: A Story of Civilian Courage at Gettysburg (2015) which won an award for YA Fiction at Southern California Book Festival, and With Gladness: A Christmas Story Collection (2016).
Lighthouse Loyalty is great, family-friendly historical fiction from a Biblical world-view, and its plot is enhanced by a touch of intrigue. There are a couple of references to dancing and smoking pipes or cigars. However, the main characters read the Bible, pray, and talk about the importance of trusting in God. While the Arnold family and Herdman Point are fictional, there is a concluding section of “Author’s Historical Notes.” Sarah told me, “As a historian, I’ve been interested and researching lighthouse for several years, working with historian Robert Munson at Cabrillo National Monument (Old Point Loma Lighthouse) to develop a well-researched historical fiction novel about lighthouse families. We noticed a lack of young adult information about lighthouses and are attempting to fill that void with an inspiring story and accurate information.” This book gets two thumbs up from me.
However, Father’s boss, Inspector Milton, and the visiting Miss Elsie Sherman, whose father has come to the lighthouse to paint the scenery, both seem to have some connection to Uncle Richard’s mysterious past. Could any of his secrets be related to the recently ended Civil War? Will these secrets tear Susan’s family apart? Or can they find some way to deal with them so as to bring them closer together and strengthen their loyalty? Author Sarah Kay Bierle is a historian, writer, and living history enthusiast who was homeschooled K-12, completed an accelerated distance learning program for college, graduated from Thomas Edison State University with a B.A. in History, and currently serves as co-managing editor for the Emerging Civil War blog. Her first two historical books were Gray and Crimson: A Story of Civilian Courage at Gettysburg (2015) which won an award for YA Fiction at Southern California Book Festival, and With Gladness: A Christmas Story Collection (2016).
Lighthouse Loyalty is great, family-friendly historical fiction from a Biblical world-view, and its plot is enhanced by a touch of intrigue. There are a couple of references to dancing and smoking pipes or cigars. However, the main characters read the Bible, pray, and talk about the importance of trusting in God. While the Arnold family and Herdman Point are fictional, there is a concluding section of “Author’s Historical Notes.” Sarah told me, “As a historian, I’ve been interested and researching lighthouse for several years, working with historian Robert Munson at Cabrillo National Monument (Old Point Loma Lighthouse) to develop a well-researched historical fiction novel about lighthouse families. We noticed a lack of young adult information about lighthouses and are attempting to fill that void with an inspiring story and accurate information.” This book gets two thumbs up from me.
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