The Light Pirate - by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Book Synopsis

FINALIST FOR THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE

Set in the near future, this hopeful story of survival and resilience follows Wanda--a luminous child born out of a devastating hurricane--as she navigates a rapidly changing world: A "symphony of beauty and heartbreak" (Associated Press).

USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

A Good Morning America Book Club pick - #1 Indie Next pick - LibraryReads pick - Book of the Month Club selection - Marie Claire #ReadWithMC book club selection - 2022 NPR "Book We Love" - New York Times Editors' Choice

Florida is slipping away. As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels wreak gradual havoc on the state's infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Kirby Lowe, an electrical line worker, his pregnant wife, Frida, and their two sons, Flip and Lucas, prepare for the worst. When the boys go missing just before the hurricane hits, Kirby heads out into the high winds in search of his children. Left alone, Frida goes into premature labor and gives birth to an unusual child, Wanda, whom she names after the catastrophic storm that ushers her into a society closer to collapse than ever before.

As Florida continues to unravel, Wanda grows. Moving from childhood to adulthood, adapting not only to the changing landscape, but also to the people who stayed behind in a place abandoned by civilization, Wanda loses family, gains community, and ultimately, seeks adventure, love, and purpose in a place remade by nature.

Told in four parts--power, water, light, and time--The Light Pirate mirrors the rhythms of the elements and the sometimes quick, sometimes slow dissolution of the world as we know it. It is a meditation on the changes we would rather not see, the future we would rather not greet, and a call back to the beauty and violence of an untamable wilderness.

Includes a Reading Group Guide.

Review Quotes

PRAISE FOR GOOD MORNING, MIDNIGHT:

"Lily Brooks-Dalton is an uncanny chronicler of desolate spaces, whether it's the cold expanse of the universe or the deepest recesses of the human heart."--Colson Whitehead, New York Times bestselling author

PRAISE FOR MOTORCYCLES I'VE LOVED:

"Lily Brooks-Dalton is wonderful, fresh on the scene with a big heart, a fierce spirit, a writer's eye, and a lovely sense of humor."--Anne Lamott, New York Times bestselling author

"A formidable young woman's coming-of-age . . . Brooks-Dalton creates an all-too-believable picture of nature reclaiming Florida from its human inhabitants, and her complex and engaging characters make climate disaster a vividly individual experience rather than an abstract subject of debate."

--Kirkus, Starred Review

"Feels like a small miracle: a book about a world wrecked by climate change that manages to be full of warmth and compassion . . . The real genius of The Light Pirate lies in the gentleness with which Brooks-Dalton treats her characters . . . Proof that climate fiction is maturing, producing works that are both nuanced and nourishing."

--Washington Post, Charlie Jane Anders

"A devastatingly beautiful, yet heavy story that pictures a dystopian American in the midst of climate change disaster . . . Wanda's deep connection to her home and a special ability keep her tethered to a place she loves, with people she loves, even if disaster has diminished the community."--Buzzfeed

"A reverent observation of nature's power . . . The novel rewards readers with peace and solace after persevering through a series of tragedies that feel too close to home. The Light Pirate is a symphony of beauty and heartbreak, survival and loneliness. Combined, it's a haunting melody of nature."--Associated Press

"A stunning work of literary fiction . . . Both an urgent reminder of the various crises that our planet faces and a tender meditation on change and adaptability, The Light Pirate is one of the best, most sobering and downright gorgeous novels I have read in quite some time. Right from the start, Brooks-Dalton immerses readers in the tension and immediacy of an approaching storm, employing the crackling energy not just in the atmosphere but also in her characters' inner lives . . . A searing call to action that is as daring as it is luminous and moving, [Brooks-Dalton's novel] is an instant classic and a damning portrait of our time."--BookReporter.com

"A symphony of beauty and heartbreak, survival and loneliness. Combined, it's a haunting melody of nature."--Winnipeg Free Press

"A truly original novel, otherworldly and profoundly human . . . This beautiful story reminds us of our deep longing for connection--with those we love, with strangers, with ourselves. We come to understand that, across time and distance, in the face of isolation and emptiness, it is tenderness and communication that keep us tethered to each other."--Keith Scribner, Author of Old Newgate Road

"Brooks-Dalton has a different sort of vision for the post-apocalypse, one that's not so dystopian . . . It's good to read an alternate and more hopeful story of how life might be experienced on a planet that is partly dying but also evolving, even if fewer humans remain."--New York Times

"Brooks-Dalton paints a luminous and wrenching portrait of a frighteningly possible future."--Booklist, Starred Review

"Brooks-Dalton writes beautifully about ambition, loss, grief, and, most compellingly, what it means to love and be loved."--Fredricksburg Free Lance-Star

"Fans of Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven and Kim Stanley Robinson's Aurora will appreciate Brooks-Dalton's exquisite exploration of relationships in extreme environments."--Washington Post

"Gripping . . . sustains a steady pace from one storm to the next. Climate fiction aficionados will eat this up."--Publishers Weekly

"Harrowing and hopeful, Pirate reveals an all-too-possible future."--People, Book of the Week

"I read this book in a whirlwind, voracious as the hurricanes at its heart. Lily Brooks-Dalton writes with the kind of intricate sensitivity that leaves one grateful to be--faultily, flimsily, adaptably, temporarily--human. Harrowing, tender, and urgent, The Light Pirate is a novel of global scope and exquisite intimacy."--Rachel Lyon, Author of Self-Portrait With Boy

"Lily Brooks-Dalton has blazed a trail all her own."--Rosie Schaap, author of Drinking with Men

"Lily Brooks-Dalton is an audacious, exquisite writer whose work pulses with humanity and hope. In The Light Pirate, her mesmerizing new novel, Brooks-Dalton achieves the impossible: she leaves us feeling grateful to be alive even as she describes, with pinpoint precision, the end of the world as we know it. Gripping, poetic, and wholly original, this book changed how I see the future. I'll never forget it."--Jillian Medoff, Author of When We Were Bright and Beautiful

"Riveting, imaginative, and encouraging."--Christian Science Monitor

"There is a luminescence here, a force that takes on a quality of the intelligence of the universe. In the glow of that light, hope and exhilaration bloom. And in these moments before the new, violent storm hits its readers, the world of this novel is unforgettable."--New York Journal of Books

"This is fiction of rare and riveting achievement: it is equal parts prophecy, elegy, and revelation. The Light Pirate describes a world much like ours, one of rising seas and changing coastlines, and peers around the corner into the future to show us what awaits. How will human beings endure such loss? How will we mourn, and how will we persist? Lily Brooks-Dalton has captured the fragile beauty of our world, and our lives, with a tenderness that is both moving and galvanizing." --Anna Pitoniak, Author of Our American Friend

"This is one of the most daring, deeply imagined and moving novels I have read. The writer asks us to consider a near-apocalyptic future, but, in prose that is beautiful and precise, Brooks-Dalton offers us hope that we are capable of remaking this world as a gentler and more generous-hearted place. Readers will not forget this beautiful book."--Meredith Hall, Author of Beneficence

"Timely . . . Reminiscent of Delia Owens' Where the Crawdads Sing, readers especially loved Brooks-Dalton's vivid writing style."--Marie Claire

"Wow! A MUST READ! . . . Brooks-Dalton's wonderful characters draw you in and her immersive settings capture the beauty of nature and its power, making for an incredible read."--BookTrib

About the Author

Lily Brooks-Dalton's novel, Good Morning, Midnight (Random House, 2016), has been translated into 17 languages and is the inspiration for the film adaptation, The Midnight Sky. Her memoir, Motorcycles I've Loved (Riverhead, 2014), was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. She currently lives in Los Angeles.