Secrets of the Lighthouse: A Novel
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Secrets of the Lighthouse: A Novel Hardcover – August 5, 2014
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Nobody does epic romance like Santa Montefiore. Everything she writes, she writes from the heart." (Jojo Moyes, author of The Girl You Left Behind)
"With a brooding hero, dark secrets and a jealous, ghostly narrator, this modern gothic is a blood-tingling good read." (People)
"A love story with so many layers that perhaps it's best to call it a story about love." (Kirkus Reviews)
"A story of history, fate, and second chances...captivating, enchanting." (Booklist)
"A delightful romantic tale that is laced with mystery and a bit of the supernatural, which really makes this storyline pop...intrigue, drama, and romance, along with alluring backdrops--all pluses in my book." (Book Reporter)
"A lyrical novel rich with ghostly beings, love, and loss set along the idyllic Connemara coastline of Ireland." (Publishers Weekly)
"With a brooding hero, dark secrets and a jealous, ghostly narrator, this modern gothic is a blood-tingling good read." (People)
"A love story with so many layers that perhaps it's best to call it a story about love." (Kirkus Reviews)
"A story of history, fate, and second chances...captivating, enchanting." (Booklist)
"A delightful romantic tale that is laced with mystery and a bit of the supernatural, which really makes this storyline pop...intrigue, drama, and romance, along with alluring backdrops--all pluses in my book." (Book Reporter)
"A lyrical novel rich with ghostly beings, love, and loss set along the idyllic Connemara coastline of Ireland." (Publishers Weekly)
About the Author
Born in England in 1970, Santa Montefiore grew up in Hampshire. She is married to historian Simon Sebag Montefiore. They live with their two children, Lily and Sasha, in London. Visit her at www.santamontefiore.co.uk.
More About the Author
I was born in England in 1970. My father is a farmer. When I was born he had grown a very successful crop of winter barley called Senter barley, so he suggested they name me Senter in celebration. My mother is Anglo Argentine and naturally thought it a terrible idea, so suggested Santa, which means saint in Spanish. Growing up I wanted to be called Jane. There isn't a joke I haven't heard. Now I rather like it, combined with my husband's name Montefiore, which means mountain flower in Italian, I think it's rather colourful. I always wanted to be a writer. There has never been a time when I haven't written. I spent a year in Argentina when I was nineteen and that changed my life in so many ways. I loved who I was when I was there. Speaking another language, not being boxed by class as we are in England, being free to be the person I chose rather than being dictated to by expectation. I fell in love with the pampa, the flat, fertile plains, the smells of gardenia and eucalyptus, the expressive, passionate people I met there. I wrote my first novel Meet Me Under The Ombu Tree, inspired by the country I had fallen in love with. My first four novels are based in Latin America. They're not sold in the USA yet. Here's hoping! My other four are published by Simon & Schuster. I live in London with my husband, the historian and novelist Simon Sebag-Montefiore, and our two children, Lily and Sasha.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By
AMK
on August 13, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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What a wonderful love story. Ellen comes to Ireland to escape her mother and her wedding. Connor is raising his two children and getting on with his life after the death of his wife Caitlin. This story starts with Caitlin setting up the story telling of how it is to be a ghost. Ellen arrives and discovers there are a lot of secrets in this village her mother left and never came back. The interaction is wonderful. The suspense is perfect and the story is unpredictable and perfect. Enjoyable and compelling, you would stop till you're done.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By
KatherineP
on August 7, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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I have a hard time resisting a book set in Ireland and when you throw in a ruined lighthouse, ghosts and a woman trying to figure out her mother's past and her own future and I was hooked.
This is a beautifully atmospheric book with a slight melancholy air. I did get a little tired of Caitlin's narration and could have dealt with a little less philosophy at the end. I liked that the pacing of the story. What could have been very complicated and cluttered unfolded very naturally. The little bits of darkness made this unique. I'll definitely be looking for more of Montefiore's work.
Full Review:[...]
This is a beautifully atmospheric book with a slight melancholy air. I did get a little tired of Caitlin's narration and could have dealt with a little less philosophy at the end. I liked that the pacing of the story. What could have been very complicated and cluttered unfolded very naturally. The little bits of darkness made this unique. I'll definitely be looking for more of Montefiore's work.
Full Review:[...]
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By
WestMetroMommy
on August 5, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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Ireland is one of those places I've always wanted to visit, but have yet to make it over there. In the meantime, there are books like this that can sate my Ireland-fever. Montefiore creates a delightful Irish village full of characters and secrets--one that I think anyone would like to visit.
The main character of Ellen was probably the least interesting of the bunch. There isn't anything wrong with her, but I just didn't find her as interesting or as unique as everyone else. The rest of the bunch, however, were all deliciously quirky.
I also really enjoyed the spiritual aspect of this book. By "spiritual," I do not mean religious. Caitlin is described as a ghost in the summary--but I think of her more as a spirit in flux and I appreciated the way Montefiore revealed her to the reader.
The conclusion of the book was predictable, but still satisfying. I think that Montefiore had a very clear vision of how this book should go and, even though the finale was expected, it seemed to be natural at the same time.
This book came to me as a work along the lines of something by Maeve Binchy. While I don't think it is quite up to that level, it was an enjoyable read and one that I would recommend for anyone who had a desire to visit the Emerald Isle.
The main character of Ellen was probably the least interesting of the bunch. There isn't anything wrong with her, but I just didn't find her as interesting or as unique as everyone else. The rest of the bunch, however, were all deliciously quirky.
I also really enjoyed the spiritual aspect of this book. By "spiritual," I do not mean religious. Caitlin is described as a ghost in the summary--but I think of her more as a spirit in flux and I appreciated the way Montefiore revealed her to the reader.
The conclusion of the book was predictable, but still satisfying. I think that Montefiore had a very clear vision of how this book should go and, even though the finale was expected, it seemed to be natural at the same time.
This book came to me as a work along the lines of something by Maeve Binchy. While I don't think it is quite up to that level, it was an enjoyable read and one that I would recommend for anyone who had a desire to visit the Emerald Isle.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By
Harriet Klausner
#1 HALL OF FAME on August 13, 2014
Format: Hardcover
8 Comments
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Secrets Of The Lighthouse
Santa Montefiore
Simon & Schuster, Aug 5 2014, $25.99
ISBN 9781476735375
Londoner Ellen Trawton feels choked by her lifestyle especially her pending marriage that she doubts she wants to happen. With an obsessive need to flee her troubles and in search of a muse, the wannabe writer travels to her mom’s hometown Connemara, Ireland to stay with her Aunt Peg, whom she never met before this visit. Ellen also meets the rest of her maternal family for the first time too. She enjoys the quaint Irish town and begins to learn secrets about her mom including why she fled the picturesque coast and the rest of her Irish kin.
Her strongest attachment is to the lighthouse that seems to call to her in spite of a death several years ago. That is until Ellen meets reticent widower Conor Macausland; who mostly stays away from the town or hides in his castle to avoid the villagers as they believe he murdered his wife Caitlin. As Ellen falls in love, she and Conor begin to see each other; but a jealous Caitlin cannot let go of her spouse.
Secrets of the Lighthouse is a fascinating paranormal family drama with an intriguing relationship triangle. The cast is solid and the vivid location enhances the entertaining plot. In many ways Caitlin steals the storyline from her mate and her rival as she tells the audience her tale of woe. Although the climax seems too obvious, readers will remain spellbound throughout.
Harriet Klausner
Santa Montefiore
Simon & Schuster, Aug 5 2014, $25.99
ISBN 9781476735375
Londoner Ellen Trawton feels choked by her lifestyle especially her pending marriage that she doubts she wants to happen. With an obsessive need to flee her troubles and in search of a muse, the wannabe writer travels to her mom’s hometown Connemara, Ireland to stay with her Aunt Peg, whom she never met before this visit. Ellen also meets the rest of her maternal family for the first time too. She enjoys the quaint Irish town and begins to learn secrets about her mom including why she fled the picturesque coast and the rest of her Irish kin.
Her strongest attachment is to the lighthouse that seems to call to her in spite of a death several years ago. That is until Ellen meets reticent widower Conor Macausland; who mostly stays away from the town or hides in his castle to avoid the villagers as they believe he murdered his wife Caitlin. As Ellen falls in love, she and Conor begin to see each other; but a jealous Caitlin cannot let go of her spouse.
Secrets of the Lighthouse is a fascinating paranormal family drama with an intriguing relationship triangle. The cast is solid and the vivid location enhances the entertaining plot. In many ways Caitlin steals the storyline from her mate and her rival as she tells the audience her tale of woe. Although the climax seems too obvious, readers will remain spellbound throughout.
Harriet Klausner
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By
Amy Drown
on August 13, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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SECRETS OF THE LIGHTHOUSE is an intriguing escape to the wild and haunted coast of Ireland, where the past and present, the dead and the living, intertwine. Fans of Maeve Binchy and Nora Roberts will appreciate Montefiore's soulful characters and vivid prose, but conservative readers may be offended by this story's morally and supernaturally blurred lines. A full review and critique of this book can be found on my website.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By
Diane Haubert
on August 15, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
Verified Purchase
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fantastic, excellent, outstanding, terrific, need I say more?
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By
vox libris
TOP 500 REVIEWER on August 7, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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What an evocative book! Brush off your passports, kids, because you will want to head to Connemara when you finish this one.
Ellen is suffering a disconnect with her life. She is dark haired where her sisters are blonde; she is content being single whereas her mother wants her profitably married. She doesn't like her job all that much, and she doesn't feel at home in London. With a wedding five months away to a fiancé she does not love, she feels desperate. And we all know that when you're desperate, you are likely to do something rash.
In Ellen's case, it's head to her mother's hometown of Connemara, where she does not just intend to soak up the Irish seaside but to get to know the aunt she didn't know she had. There are other family members who are unknown, and Ellen will meet them as well.
She is drawn to a crumbling lighthouse, the scene of a horrific death five years earlier. Caitlin was a young mother whose husband Conor has been blamed for her death. Several of Ellen's family members, as well as most of the people in town, hold him responsible, even though he was never arrested or charged. Instead, Conor responded as Ellen has to her lack of connection: he flees.
He occasionally returns, though, and on one such visit, he and Ellen meet. Let's just say that she does not share the prevailing opinion regarding Conor's guilt.
Montefiore unfolds the story through the perspectives of Ellen and Caitlin. There is a spirituality infusing this book that is as atmospheric as the Irish setting. Caitlin is in a self-enforced purgatory of sorts. She can't move on - her spirit is stuck - until she embraces love and light, a lesson she learns from the spirit of another dead character.Read more ›
Ellen is suffering a disconnect with her life. She is dark haired where her sisters are blonde; she is content being single whereas her mother wants her profitably married. She doesn't like her job all that much, and she doesn't feel at home in London. With a wedding five months away to a fiancé she does not love, she feels desperate. And we all know that when you're desperate, you are likely to do something rash.
In Ellen's case, it's head to her mother's hometown of Connemara, where she does not just intend to soak up the Irish seaside but to get to know the aunt she didn't know she had. There are other family members who are unknown, and Ellen will meet them as well.
She is drawn to a crumbling lighthouse, the scene of a horrific death five years earlier. Caitlin was a young mother whose husband Conor has been blamed for her death. Several of Ellen's family members, as well as most of the people in town, hold him responsible, even though he was never arrested or charged. Instead, Conor responded as Ellen has to her lack of connection: he flees.
He occasionally returns, though, and on one such visit, he and Ellen meet. Let's just say that she does not share the prevailing opinion regarding Conor's guilt.
Montefiore unfolds the story through the perspectives of Ellen and Caitlin. There is a spirituality infusing this book that is as atmospheric as the Irish setting. Caitlin is in a self-enforced purgatory of sorts. She can't move on - her spirit is stuck - until she embraces love and light, a lesson she learns from the spirit of another dead character.Read more ›
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