Editorial Content for The Light Pirate
Book
Teaser
THE LIGHT PIRATE is 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.
Promo
THE LIGHT PIRATE is 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.
About the Book
"A luminous and wrenching portrait of a frighteningly possible future," THE LIGHT PIRATE is 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 (Booklist, starred review).
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.
December 17, 2022
Our last book group meeting of the year was very special. We had read HONOR by Thrity Umrigar, and from there we had a terrific discussion. One of our book group members grew up in India, and her marriage had been arranged. Note that we had not known this before the meeting. She shared her own stories about being Hindu, the caste system and her takeaways from the book. She also brought a fabulous masala corn, which was very spicy! Another member of our group had spent three weeks traveling in India; she shared her experiences there and brought some delicious hummus. We talked about the book and why it resonated with each of us. When our discussion veered in other directions, as we typically do, we moved back to the book and its characters again and again --- the sign of a discussable book. What a great way to close out a wonderful year of reading.
