This 2016 debut novel made the longlist for the Australian Independent Booksellers awards. The story is based on a true story. It is set in the 1880s; Kate and Harriet are two young girls whose fathers both operate a lighthouse on a remote cape in New South Wales, Australia.
The book is written from Kate's perspective and begins with a prologue; something has happened that Kate is trying to forget. The rest of the book details the girls' life on the cape. Harriet is two years older and the more beautiful, while Kate is more of a free spirit. They are both attracted to an older fisherman who moves into a cottage. It is not until Chapter 35, with 40 pages to go, that the reader finds out what Kate is trying to forget.
The book is beautifully written and well researched and I enjoyed it, but it's a good book rather than a great one. The friendship between Kate and Harriet, the envy and intimacy, rivalry and camaraderie, is beautifully detailed. The life of a lighthouse keeper's wife and family, and the bonds and tensions between men working alongside each other but miles from civilisation, are also brought to life.
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