“Light on Fire Island,” by Marlene Bateman, Covenant Communications, Inc., 2009, 305 pages, $16.99
In 1921, Celena Jackson fled Fire Island with a heavy heart. Before her mother’s death, she’d promised to care for her young brother, Joshua, and teach him the gospel. But their father, Matthew, a lighthouse keeper devastated by the loss of his wife, banished Celena for refusing to renounce her Mormon faith.
Five years later, when Matthew suffers serious injuries and Joshua pleads for Celena’s help, she returns to her childhood home where she has to decide if she can love the embittered father who cast her out.
Her life is further complicated as she tries to take over as the lighthouse keeper only to find someone will do whatever it takes to remove her from the picture. The web of intrigue on the island turns deadly, with Celena at its very center.