The Bone Cay by Eliza Nellums

 

To purchase, click here

This novel wasn't on my TBR list until I came across it at work. A quick glance at the cover had me quickly checking it out and taking it home.

Magda Trudell is the caretaker of the Whimbrel Estate in Key West, the home of poet Isobel Reyes. Isobel famously walked off the dock near her home in 1918, drowning in the ocean. Her body was never found. Now, that reputation has people visiting the area to also end their lives. Magda makes it part of her duties to walk the beach and check the mangroves to see if any bodies appear. Not exactly what a caretaker should be doing on a daily basis. 

Madga has fought and fought to get extra funding for the Whimbrel Estate. She's poured all her love and admiration for Isobel's poetry into her life and is an expert on Isobel's poetry. She's been caretaker of the estate for ten years, and has fought tooth and nail to preserve the gorgeous estate and bring a historic landmark designation to it. Unfortunately, she's been unsuccessful. She has one more chance to try for the designation; funding is guaranteed if she's successful.

Unfortunately, there's a major hurricane forming and heading right towards Key West. Magda decides she's going to stay at Whimbrel and take on the storm. It goes against everything--everyone is being evacuated. But Madga won't leave the estate, and is confident it will survive the hurricane. 

As the storm approaches and hits, it quickly becomes apparent it is a monster hurricane, with relentless rain and winds. It's just not stopping or lessening in intensity. Magda makes a fascinating discovery after the gift shop is damaged--one that could turn the story of Isobel completely around, and change the future of the Whimbrel Estate--and Magda, too. But will she survive the hurricane?

There's more to the story, but I don't want to give it all away--more characters, too. Part thriller, part ghost story, it's also a nail biter as the hurricane just keeps clawing its way onshore, creeping closer and closer to the house. It brings a lot of darkness with it, and it soon becomes a battle of survival for Magda. 

I enjoyed this novel, but it did take me a bit to finish it. I kept putting it down and picking it up. I thought the plot was very interesting, but Madga, darn it--she annoyed me sometimes. Her stubbornness was not admirable in the face of such a terrible storm. The action does build with the introduction of a few other characters, with a twisty turn towards the end. 

Rating: 3/6 for an interesting plot thick with the history of Key West, ghostly happenings, and a hurricane determined to destroy everything in its path. It's definitely human vs. nature. 

Available in hardcover, audio and Kindle ebook. 

**“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made through links on this site.**

Share: facebook - twitter - pinterest

The Bone Cay by Eliza Nellums

The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton

I'll confess I've wanted to visit Key West for many years, and I've yet to get there. When I saw this novel set in Key West in the 1930's, I had to pick it up. Add to the plot a devastating hurricane over Labor Day Weekend, 1935, and I grabbed a copy to read on my last few days of a short staycation. 

The plot revolves around three women who are in Key West and the surrounding area over the Labor Day Weekend. It's 1935, and the southern most tip of Florida is a pretty rough place--not the tourist destination it is today. The Florida East Coast Railway had finally been built to bring passengers all the way to Key West. World War One vets were living in pretty miserable camps while they worked on building and extending the railroad. No one wanted to deal with vets returning from the Great War that had left them damaged with PTSD; it was easy to ship them down to Florida and forget about them. Wow. Do we never learn from past mistakes?! 

Anyhow. Three women: Helen, Elizabeth, and Mirta are all in the Keys this fateful weekend. Helen lives there; she's 9 months pregnant, living with an abusive husband, and working as a waitress in the only cafe around. Elizabeth has fled New York City and come to Florida looking for her brother, who may be at one of the veteran camps. She's got a secret or two. And Mirta has arrived from Cuba with her new husband, handsome Anthony. Mirta married Anthony so her family would be safe in Cuba from the changing leadership. They are on their honeymoon before traveling to Anthony's home in New York City. 

The paths of all three women criss-cross over the fateful few days they are trapped in Key West as the hurricane comes barreling down. The weather officials claim it will miss them; the locals, who know better, are getting nervous seeing the ominous signs that the terrible storm is advancing. Who will survive? Will each woman find the answers they are seeking? 

The plot moved along fairly quickly. I didn't have trouble following each woman's story; chapters have each woman's name, so you know which one you're following. Each story is compelling; I found Helen's tale of matrimonial abuse and her desire to escape the most interesting. The hurricane left death and destruction that was horrible. I looked at a few stories on the actual hurricane of 1935 and yes, it was as bad as it is portrayed in the novel. While the hurricane literally wiped clean the islands that make up the Keys, it also wiped clean the lives of these three women, and created new chances for each. I don't want to give much away, so I'll stop there. There aren't any huge surprises, but the puzzle pieces all fit together in an interesting way, and each woman is connected to each other by more than geography. 

There are book club discussion questions in the back of the book for those who want to read and discuss. I would definitely like to read Chanel Cleeton's two other books: 

I'm always intrigued by books set in the 1920's and 1930's--in between the two world wars. 

Definitely a book I'd recommend if you're traveling to Florida (maybe in 2021?). I didn't see any non-fiction books about the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 but I'd love to know more about it beyond newspaper articles revisiting the event. 

Rating: 4/6 for a historical novel about three women at definitive crossroads in their lives; a deadly hurricane that forces them each to make choices, and the ever present and unresolved issue of returning veterans and failure of our government to honor and protect them as they return home. 

Available in paperback, ebook, and audio. 

Share: facebook - twitter - pinterest

The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton

The Woman At The Light by Joanna Brady

I don't know what to make of this novel.  I've thought about it for a day before writing this post, and I still don't know how I feel!  

The main character is Emily Lowry, a young woman from New Orleans who's married to Martin Lowry and lives at a lighthouse on Wrecker's Cay near Key West in the 1830's.  She's the mother of three children and another one on the way when one morning Martin leaves in a boat to fish and never comes back.  

Emily is determined to stay at the lighthouse and collect a salary since she really has no where else to go and doesn't want to fall on the mercy of family in Key West.  She convinces the authorities to let her stay, taking care of the lighthouse and providing a crucial service to the ships sailing close by the dangerous reefs that surround the Keys.  

A few months after her husband has disappeared, Emily still holds hope he is  alive, but she's struggling to keep everything moving smoothly on Wrecker's Cay.  And then Andrew shows up.  He's a runaway slave who jumped ship during a storm and made it ashore.  Emily soon realizes he's a gentle man who is willing to help around the island in exchange for a place to sleep and food.  He quickly proves himself invaluable to Emily as her pregnancy advances and their feelings for one another change into dangerous territory.  After all, it is 1839; the South is firmly entrenched in the slave economy and love between a white woman and a black man is forbidden.  

Oh, the stuff that happens to Emily!  This truly is a soap opera of a novel.  I absolutely loved the history of Key West, the information on women lighthouse keepers (most of them widows), and the tropical feel of this novel.  Emily's life has major ups and downs, lost love, money, hurricanes, family deaths, and just about everything else tossed in to make her life far from boring.  She's the Erica Kane of Key West.  

So did I enjoy this novel?  Well, it wasn't what I expected.  I had no idea I was in for such a ride with Emily.  Do I like Emily?  Kinda sorta.  She is an admirable woman, but at the same time she irritated me a bit with some of her completely stupid behavior.  It takes her awhile to become a strong woman and make choices of her own, but she does.  I felt like it should have taken place in 1888 not 1839--it seemed a bit historically out of whack with Emily's thinking and ability to take command in situations where a woman would not have had a chance to decide.

If you like historical fiction with  a bit of soap opera involved, try this.  It's got it all and you will not be bored.  I think I was expecting more of a serious novel that all took place at the lighthouse, since it's such a major part of the story.  I found myself rolling my eyes a few times at some of Emily's antics but after thinking about this novel for the past day, I will say my overall opinion is one of more enjoyment than annoyance.  

Rating:  3/5 for the history of Key West and the author's ability to put you in a young Key West!  I want to go there.  And while there are sad moments in the novel, they are not overwhelming.  

Share: facebook - twitter - pinterest

The Woman At The Light by Joanna Brady