Jennifer L. Wright’s Last Light Over Galveston is certainly going on the bookshelf to stay! It’s a beautifully crafted story of a young woman finding her place in the world and discovering what parts of life are worth fighting for.
Tedious Relationships
Kathleen McDaniels was born into wealth and had a luxurious future planned for her. And yet after completing a finishing school in Switzerland, Kathleen finds herself discontent with the unimaginably boring dinners and frivolous conversations that were deemed socially appropriate for women back in New York. But her father is unyielding in his ideas of a ‘proper woman’ and Kathleen wonders if it’s worth standing up for herself.
That’s one half of the story. The other chapters take place several months afterwards, with Kathleen half way across the country, hiding dark secrets from those who are hunting her. Something has gone terribly wrong, and Kathleen isn’t ready to face the truth – for the truth to face her.
Desperate and on the run, she doesn’t want to risk trusting anyone, for fear that they’ll be caught in the drama as well. But as her heart starts to soften towards a young orphan girl and several other friends, she wonders if they are enough of a reason to stop running and start standing strong.
Worker’s Rights in 1900
Bad. Need I say anymore? Wright did a excellent job of showing the reader how desperate the working conditions were in the early 1900, especially for immigrants. With few laws or regulations in place to protect employees, many of them were at the mercy of heartless tycoons – such as the McDaniels family.
Pictures were very powerful in real life, and also provided tremendous symbolism throughout the story. The recurring theme of cameras and film left the reader guessing as to the whole story until the final few chapters, when the truth was fully developed.
The Great Galveston Hurricane
Considered the deadliest weather disaster in the history of America, the Galveston Hurricane claimed somewhere between 6,000 and 12,000 lives (most official reports count about 8,000 dead, but the truth was lost as sea…literally). For contrast, Hurricane Katrina (New Orleans, August 2005) killed approximately 1,200 people, and Hurricane Maria (Puerto Rico, September 2017) killed a little less than 3,000 people.
I’ve read fictional stories of natural disasters before, but always from safely inland, hundreds of miles away from typical hurricane landing zones. Reading about the damage caused by the water that wouldn’t stop rising was a stark reminder that humans are often powerless against the natural forces of the world.
It definitely caused a renewed sympathy for those who are at a higher risk of natural disasters and made me consider all that I have to be thankful for.
Wright wrote a beautiful, but heartbreaking story set in the middle of such tragedy. It’s impossible to emerge from such a trial unscathed, but sometimes new life is born when we endure the darkest days of our lives. It reminded me of the symbolism behind Christian baptism – the old person is put into the water, symbolizing death to self, and the new person is raised up out of the water, symbolizing new life in Jesus.
Read It Yourself!
This is a compelling story about finding personal freedom and discovering true identity. You can buy it from the FamilyFiction Amazon Affiliate HERE!
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