Lighthouse Island: A Novel

Description

See the rain forests . . . northern beauty, misted nights. Come to Lighthouse Island . . . In the coming centuries the world's population has exploded. People live cheek-by-jowl in sprawling concrete cities; most animals are extinct; and drought is so widespread that water is rationed. There are no maps, no borders, no numbered years, and no freedom, except for an elite few. It is a harsh world for an orphan girl like Nadia Stepan, whose bleak childhood is made bearable solely by dreams of a green vacation spot called Lighthouse Island that is rumored to exist in a faraway place called the Pacific Northwest. When an opportunity for escape arises, Nadia runs, embarking on a solitary, dangerous, and sometimes comic adventure. Along the way she meets a man who changes the course of her life: James Orotov, a mapmaker and demolitions expert who is deeply wounded in body and soul. Together, they evade arrest and head north toward a place of wild beauty that lies far beyond the megalopolis-the fabled sanctuary called Lighthouse Island.

Paulette Jiles is a novelist, poet, and memoirist. She is the author of Cousins, a memoir, and the novels Enemy Women, Stormy Weather, The Color of Lightning, Lighthouse Island, and News of the World, which was a finalist for the 2016 National Book Award. She lives on a ranch near San Antonio, Texas.

"Jiles's prose is a striking match for the barren landscape of this moody adventure tale." -- Publishers Weekly on LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND "A remarkably engaging story... Jiles's description is memorable and evocative." -- Denver Post on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "[A] meticulously researched and beautifully crafted story ... this is glorious work." -- Washington Post on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "A gripping, deeply relevant book." -- New York Times Book Review on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "A rousing, character-driven tale." -- Kirkus Reviews on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "Jiles' spare and melancholy prose is the perfect language for this tale in which survival necessitates brutality." -- Seattle Times on THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING "Lighthouse Island is a beacon of hope for Nadia, the clever, resourceful young heroine of Paulette Jiles' spellbinding new novel... Jiles' writing is crisp and vivid as always, and although her setting is vastly different, her themes--independence, individuality, love of the land--remain intact." -- San Antonio Express-News on LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND "Nadia's wandering journey maintains that hopeful anticipation of deep sleep... Jiles (Color of Lightening; Stormy Weather) has created a fascinating dystopic vision of a future world." -- Library Journal on LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND "The dystopian novel is beautifully written, and Jiles' scenes of [protagonist] Nadia navigating the crumbling cityscape and her surreal interactions with the many desperate characters are vivid, shocking and often darkly funny." -- Columbus Dispatch on LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND "[I]nventive futurism and rollicking wit." -- New York Times Book Review on LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND