Guiding Lights - The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women
Author(s): Shona Riddell
Women have a long history of keeping the lights burning, from tending ancient altar flames or bonfires to modern-day lighthouse keeping. Yet most of their stories are little-known. Guiding Lights includes stories from around the world, such as the dramatic torching of Puysegur Point, one of New Zealand's most inhospitable lighthouses; the two caretakers living alone on Tasmania's wild Maatsuyker Island; the female keeper in charge of Cape Beale on Canada's Vancouver Island (the station receives visits from bears, cougars and wolves); several 'haunted' lighthouses in various US states with tragic tales; the despotic keeper on Clipperton Island, a tiny atoll far off the coast of Mexico; lighthouse accidents and emergencies around the world; and two of the world's most legendary lighthouse women: Ida Lewis (US) and Grace Darling (UK), who risked their lives to save others. The book also explores our dual perception of lighthouses: are they comforting and romantic beacons symbolising hope and trust, or storm-lashed and forbidding towers with echoes of lonely, mad keepers? Whatever our perception, stories of women's courage and dedication in minding the lights -- then and now -- continue to capture the public's imagination and inspire us.
Product Information
General Fields
- :
- : Exisle Publishing
- : Exisle Publishing (Australia)
- : 0.725748
- : 01 March 2020
- : {"length"=>["22.9"], "width"=>["15.2"], "units"=>["Centimeters"]}
- : books
Special Fields
- : Shona Riddell
- : Hardback with dustjacket
- : 01
- : English
- : 387.1550922
- : near fine
- : 256