2013 book 88

Christina Schwartz's The Edge of the Earth
This is a perfectly satisfying novel about a young Midwestern woman in the early 1900s who, instead of marrying the respectable and responsible man she's supposed to, instead falls for his feckless cousin, and accompanies him to California where he's taken a job as a lighthouse-keeper. There, she befriends the children (and wife) of the chief keeper, and alongside them, starts to learn about the natural world around her (the framing device lets us know that she becomes a well-known naturalist/scientist). There's some really fascinating stuff about a Native American woman living nearby (though many parts of this plotline are predictable), and never in my life have I wanted to shake a book character more than the protagonist's ambitious and thoughtless husband. Really a quick and enjoyable read, and I like this trend of books set in lighthouses--very isolated and atmospheric. B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on April 2nd.