We shine a light on a few of our favourite books set in lighthouses
There’s definitely something about a lighthouse that appeals to authors. Perhaps it’s the solitude and nature of life lived in a liminal space right on the edge of land. They certainly are a very visual literary trope - we all know what a lighthouse looks like, and they cut a dramatic figure on the landscape. It’s perhaps no wonder they feature in so many works of fiction. Here are a few of the most well-loved…
To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness novel follows the Ramsay family across several years and a trip to a lighthouse that feels like it may never come. We’ll be honest, the lighthouse trip itself is a bit underwhelming in the end, but the novel is so different to anything that had come before and is still in a league of its own.
Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer
This deliciously creepy novel follows four women who have been sent to investigate ‘Area X’. They are the 12th team to have been sent; the previous 11 teams either did not return or returned utterly changed. Within Area X is a lighthouse in which they find unfinished journals and signs of a struggle…
The Lighthouse, Edgar Allen Poe
If you enjoy ‘creepy’ no one does it like the master, Edgar Allen Poe. Perhaps the creepiest thing about this work of fiction is that it is unfinished; Poe died while he was writing it. The book takes the form of a ‘diary’ belonging to the solo keeper of the lighthouse, who takes enormous pleasure in his solitude.
Lighthouse Keeping, Jeanette Winterson
Winterson’s novel is a beautiful and intriguing tale of orphan girl, Silver, who is taken in by a blind lighthouse keeper on the coast of Scotland.
The Lighthouse, PD James
An Inspector Dalgliesh novel, which takes place on the slightly claustrophobic Combe Island, where a novelist is found dead, hanging in the renovated lighthouse.
The Light Between Oceans, M L Stedman
A moving and poignant story about a childless lighthouse keeper and his wife on an isolated island off Australia who rescue a baby adrift at sea and raise her as their own. Years later her parentage is discovered. A proper tale of love, loss, justice and tragedy.
The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch, Rhonda and David Armitage
One to prove that not all lighthouses are creepy… Mr Girling and his wife live in a lighthouse keeper’s cottage from which he rows out to the lighthouse each day. Mrs Girling sends his lunch over in a basket on a rope each day but have to find an ingenious way of preventing the seagulls from eating the ham sandwiches.
The Puffin Keeper, Michael Morpurgo
A beautiful adventure for children, that begins with a shipwreck at a lighthouse and evolves into an unlikely but wonderful friendship. It’s also a homage to Allen Lane, the founder of puffin books.
Mind the Light, Katie, Mary Louise Clifford
A historical account of 33 female lighthouse keepers. Brilliantly researched and totally fascinating.
If you’re inspired to a lighthouse adventure of your own, don’t miss our ‘Weekend Away’ feature from our June issue in which Karen Dunn stays in a lighthouse.
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