Lighthouse Families

Library Journal

America has a love affair with lighthouses. In an age of satellites and computers, lighthouses have been relegated to serving as monuments of bygone times, but tourists still flock to them, wondering what life must have been like for those long-since-departed keepers. In their first collaboration, Shelton-Roberts and her husband, a lighthouse historian and photographer, offer readers a chance to have that solitary experience vicariously in this collection of stories by people who grew up in a "lighthouse family." The lighthouses covered here are found throughout the United States, but the experiences and hardships faced by their families are similar in many respects. The authors have done an admirable job of gathering together in one volume the stories of these lighthouse "children." They even offer readers a chance to experience one aspect of their spartan lives: each has contributed a favorite family recipe. This belongs on the shelves of every public library.Joseph L. Carlson, Vandenberg AFB Lib., Cal.