The Lamplighter

Starred review from March 4, 2024
A teenager living in a superstitious seaside village must fight to keep her position as Lamplighter when townsfolk begin disappearing under her watch in Bell’s stunning 19th-century-set debut. After
her father’s death by suicide, Temperance Byrne inherits his responsibility as Lamplighter, tasked with keeping the oil lamps throughout town lit during the night. The Massachusetts whaling village of Warbler is plagued by darkness and fog, and without the lamplight, townsfolk get lost and are often found dead the next morning, or never found at all. When the daughter of a wealthy merchant goes missing, Temperance’s competence is called into question, jeopardizing her ability to provide for her younger sister and ill mother. To save her family and prevent more disappearances, Temperance must uncover Warbler’s dark truths, and determine the origin of the threat lurking in the shadows. Bell valiantly braids edge-of-the-seat plotting, moody imagery, and evocatively rendered characters into unsettling knots. Temperance’s struggles to prove herself in her male-dominated society are explored with depth and nuance, making this chilling mystery feel at once like a classic folktale and a sharp allegory for the obstacles of modern women. Characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Michelle Hauck, Storm Literary.

April 1, 2024
Something is rotten in the New England whaling village of Warbler, and a young woman stands alone in her fight to expose the truth. "It's an honor to bring light to the dark." Ever since losing her father to suicide four years ago and taking over his position as Warbler's lamplighter, those are the words Irish American Temperance has lived by. Her lampposts act as bastions of comfort when choking fog blankets the village every night, fog that makes it all too easy for folk to lose themselves. When a girl disappears without a trace the same night that two lampposts mysteriously go out, Temperance's reputation and livelihood suddenly hang in the balance. With no one she feels she can turn to for help, she struggles to clear her name, which soon leads to horrifying revelations. Will she speak her truth and be believed or, like her father, lose herself to the fog of despair? The novel is equal parts ghost story and feminist invocation. The first half of the story sets up tension--Temperance's pride and isolation, the hopeless fury of being a woman in a man's world, the uneasy intersection of fact and folklore--with considered care. The second half loses some ground in its exploration of what constitutes evil but never loses momentum. The twist at the end is satisfying, and the spooky atmosphere and (righteous) female rage linger like the town's infamous fog. Chilling. (content warning) (Horror. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 1, 2024

Gr 7 Up-Middle schoolers can be moody and a little bit scary-so is this novel: what a perfect pair! This 19th-century Gothic-light tale of terror leans heavily on spooky predecessors, mixing the New England setting of Edgar Allan Poe with the dark, emotional turmoil of the Bront� sisters. Protagonist Temperance works as the lamplighter in Warbler, a seaside town beset by deepest fog each night. Despite being a woman, she inherited her job after her father's tragic death, leaving her as the sole provider for her younger sister and a mother near-comatose with grief. The plot thickens when the town's mysterious but talented figurehead carver, Gideon, entwines himself into Temperance's family life. She is determined to discover the secrets he's hiding. And thus begins a foreboding plot that drips with the shadow of violence. A girl goes missing the night two lamplights go out, and like the fog that pervades Warbler, something threatening lies unseen. Debut author Bell's writing borders on verbose, flowery language creating intense inner conflicts. Temperance's stubbornness and self-torture permeate each story beat. Her actions take readers down roads of long discovery followed by moments of deep dread, visceral and all-encompassing. VERDICT A gloomy horror novel, perfect for middle schoolers too old for "Goosebumps," but not yet ready for more terrifying fare.-Cat McCarrey

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 19, 2024
Grades 9-12 Her father apparently dead by suicide, 18-year-old Temperance inherits his job as lamplighter for the whaling village of Warbler, Connecticut. Before his death, her father had admonished her to "stay away from Gideon," the ship carver. So Tempe is horrified to discover that her younger sister, Pru, plans to marry the man. Tempe forbids the relationship, although she has a relationship of her own with young cooper Josiah. Despite this, she kisses Gideon, as she had two years earlier, and once again he assaults her. In the meantime, Josiah proposes marriage, and Tempe refuses him since she wants to keep her job, which is placed in jeopardy when two young girls go missing one night after two of her lights are mysteriously extinguished. About this time, the novel turns from mystery to horror as Tempe discovers the girls' improbable fate. Though Tempe's motivation is sometimes murky, Bell's novel, with its nineteenth-century setting, is a marvel of the ominous and mind-bending incident.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.