The Light Pirate

By: Lily Brooks-Dalton

Narrated by: Rosemary Benson

For fans of Station Eleven and Where the Crawdads Sing comes a hopeful, sweeping story of survival and resilience spanning one extraordinary woman’s lifetime as she navigates the uncertainty, brutality, and arresting beauty of a rapidly changing world.

Florida is slipping away. As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels wreak gradual havoc on the state’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Kirby Lowe, an electrical line worker, his pregnant wife, Frida, and their two sons, Flip and Lucas, prepare for the worst. When the boys go missing just before the hurricane hits, Kirby heads out into the high winds in search of his children. Left alone, Frida goes into premature labor and gives birth to an unusual child, Wanda, whom she names after the catastrophic storm that ushers her into a society closer to collapse than ever before.

As Florida continues to unravel, Wanda grows. Moving from childhood to adulthood, adapting not only to the changing landscape, but also to the people who stayed behind in a place abandoned by civilization, Wanda loses family, gains community, and ultimately, seeks adventure, love, and purpose in a place remade by nature.

Told in four parts—power, water, light, and time—The Light Pirate mirrors the rhythms of the elements and the sometimes quick, sometimes slow dissolution of the world as we know it. It is a meditation on the changes we would rather not see, the future we would rather not greet, and a call back to the beauty and violence of an untamable wilderness.

©2022 Lily Brooks-Dalton (P)2022 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

"Lily Brooks-Dalton is wonderful, fresh on the scene with a big heart, a fierce spirit, a writer's eye, and a lovely sense of humor.”—Anne Lamott, New York Times bestselling author

loved this book

this book was so good, the writing and narration drew me in and made me feel everything the characters where feeling. the one thing that was disappointing was that the end was wrapped up too quickly. u invest and travel with Wanda thru all the hard times and when she finally becomes a adult the story skips ahead to the end of her life. I did feel denied all her adult adventures. this book should have been a series

Fantastic

Well written. Innovative,current and relevant. Draws you in and never lets go! Great reader. Good read.

Couldn't put it down!

Wow, just wow! Kept me reading for hours. I recommened this to my bookclub. A must-read!

Great book; misleading name

This was a less fun book than the tittle indicated, but that’s great because this made me feel something and I was expecting nothing.

The concept of Florida displaying because of storms. How the weather impacted peoples lives.

Enjoyed how all the lives were woven together. The story has hunted me a bit after finishing it. Well written. It’s a keeper that I will read again.

It’s pacing was great and felt grounded in reality despite its interesting traits

Very good book It’s pacing was great and felt grounded in reality despite its interesting traits. I would recommend this book to other who want a more slow burn type of read.

Modern Post apocalyptic

As an enjoyer of apocalyptic and dystopian novels I enjoyed this book. It was erre to read about something so real like the effects of long term climate change, but still really interesting. I do wish more time was spent on exploring Wanda’s power and how she could use it and help others.

It is already happening

In recent years Florida, particularly South Florida, has experienced rapid growth along the East and West Coast. Slow but persistent rising water is already a problem for Miami with its sunny day flooding. Wealthy people have built large and expensive homes 100 yards from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean (look at a Singer Island). There are two storylines in this book: the drowning of Florida from rising oceans AND the story of Wanda who we meet at the time of her birth and follow throughout her life. Occasionally the author jumps back-and-forth in time creating minor confusion. As someone who is a seasonal resident in South Florida I have become over the past 20 years very sensitive to the issues raised in this book.

Wonderful story,

My only complaint is that it didn’t go deeper into the feelings between characters. A wonderful story.

Loved it!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! Thought provoking as to what the future holds for our home (earth) if we don’t all wake up and take care of it instead of carelessly taking from and damaging it!