By Anna Rose Johnson
publisher’s synopsis
Lucy, a spirited French-Ojibwe orphan, is sent to the stormy waters of Lake Superior to live with a mysterious family of lighthouse-keepers—and, she hopes, to find the legendary necklace her father spent his life seeking…
Selena Lucy Landry (named for a ship, as every sailor’s child should be) has been frightened of the water ever since she lost her father at sea. But with no one else to care for her, she’s sent to foster with the Martins—a large Anishinaabe family living on a lighthouse in the middle of stormy Lake Superior.
The Martin family is big, hard-working, and close, and Lucy—who has always been a dreamer—struggles to fit in. Can she go one day without ruining the laundry or forgetting the sweeping? Will she ever be less afraid of the lake?
Although life at the lighthouse isn’t what Lucy hoped for, it is beautiful—ships come and go, waves pound the rocks—and it has one major It’s near the site of a famous shipwreck, a shipwreck that went down with a treasure her father wanted more than anything . If Lucy can find that treasure—a priceless ruby necklace—won’t it be like having Papa back again, just a little bit?
But someone else is hunting for the treasure, too. And as the lighthouse company becomes increasingly skeptical that the Martins can juggle Lucy and their duties, Lucy and the Martin children will need to find the necklace quickly—or they may not have a home at all.
A sweet, fanciful story from Anna Rose Johnson.
Similar to The Star That Always Stays, Johnson writes with a nod to classic stories. Lucy’s fanciful imaginations reminded me of Anne of Green Gables. The lighthouse setting was fun and unique–I think I’ve only read one other book with a lighthouse family before.
While I could keep all of the Martin children straight, I do think they could have been rounded a tad more to give them a little more dimension.
The climax, while fitting the book well, didn’t quite ring right for me. (SPOILER) I struggled to believe that Lucy could row the rowboat out during the stormy water and help rescue the others when she’d never done anything like that before. (END SPOILER) However, despite my struggles with believability, it did fit Lucy and her character arc well.
Overall, The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry is another charming story for fans of middlegrade, historical books, and classic novels.
Cautions: None
(I received an eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry releases March 5, 2024)
Hailey Huntington 
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