I was utterly swept away by this book. endicott’s Poetic prose elevated this sea adventure to Something creamy and beautiful. Highly recommend!

The Voyage of the Morning Light by Marina Endicott presents historical fiction intertwined with the moral decisions a family of the early 1900's struggle with and, eventually, must face.
The story of the Grant family begins during an ocean voyage with Captain Grant in charge, accompanied by his new wife, Thea, and her precocious young half-sister, Kay. The author subtly weaves her character development with vivid descriptions of a life at sea and the beauty of the pristine natural surroundings. You will find yourself putting the book down to take a moment to immerse yourself in the words.
In the course of the voyage, Thea suffers a miscarriage and, subsequently, they stop at an island where they encounter a desperate group of indigenous men approach their ship, begging for food and drink. They even offer a young child, who accompanies them, in exchange for sustenance and Thea cannot refuse. The moral outcomes of this decision carry the plot forward and keep the characters and the reader engrossed in its impact on all of their lives. The close relationship that Kay develops with her teacher on board the ship also captures the reader's interest as it endures throughout the story.
What brings the reader back to the book time and again is the desire to return to life as it was lived in vivid detail at the turn of the century - upon the seas, in foreign lands and at their home in Nova Scotia. And, of equal importance is the desire to engage and share in the family's moral dilemma, realizing that the decisions they ultimately had to accept are as contemporary as yesterday.
This book presents historical fiction at its best.

I am so glad I stuck with this book, after the first chapter or so. This is a tale of a pre-teen Canadian girl named Kay growing up in the changing world of the early 20th century, grappling with where she belongs. While aboard a trade ship voyage across the world with her sister Thea and brother-in-law Francis she gets to visit people and places most do not, which helps to shape her worldview as she grows. It also helps create a contrast to which she can unpack her childhood spent with her missionary father, and sister, at a school for indigenous children in Canada.

This novel strikes me as a morality tale, as the protagonists grapple with difficult questions about what is right and wrong, and acknowledging that the decisions you make impact others lives. Thea, who has such certainty in what she has been taught and presents it as such, finds it difficult to outwardly show she has doubts. But the author also does a good job showing the societal muffling of women's voices, feelings, and even physical distress during this time, for the sake of what was then considered proper and womanly.

My initial worry in the first few pages of reading was that there would be a glorification of the righteous white savior coming to save the soul of the "noble savage" (a very problematic and erroneous anachronism). But the author is honest about the realities of European colonialism for indigenous populations and many disturbing outcomes, like culture/language loss, family upheaval, slavery, institutional racism, disease, starvation, etc.

I do wish a first-person narrative from Aren, Kay's brother, was included, but I would highly recommend to anyone looking to learn more about early 20th century history, the cultures of the South Pacific, and those willing to question their own perceptions.

Oh, don't despair! this is a book that that adage "Read fifty pages before giving up on a book" is so true. When two Canadian half-sisters decide to go on a grand adventure to Micronesia. I loved it. Based on a true story it shows the wonder of discovering new people and new parts of the world, way before National Geographic was available. Morally, they are dealing with what is right and what is wrong as well as how women's voices are never allowed to have opinions. I had to gloss over the the details about intricate sailing maneuvers for that didn't interest me, but this book is a book that will appeal to sailors as well as non-sailors, so it should be there.

This book is interesting in that the characters travel to far-away places on a sailing vessel, and later, on a steamship. However, the story is disjointed and confusing. The first half of the book is about two half-sisters. The book is written in the third person and the viewpoint shifts between the two sisters. Although one sister—Kay—is 11 and the other—Thea—is near 30, their voices are indistinguishable. There are many unnecessary details, including a temper tantrum that the younger sister throws, after which she alludes to other problems with her temper that aren’t illustrated in the book. I couldn’t see what the temper tantrum had to do with the plot or with Kay’s character development, possibly because there was so little character development.

At the end of part one, we find one character in a tuberculosis hospital (I’m being cagy so as not to spoil the plot). One character notes that, if the sick character is released from the hospital, it will mean that the hospital staff have given up and that character can no longer be treated. I figured that meant the character would die. Two pages later, the nurse tells Thea that they are discharging the sick character. Then we jump to part two, eleven years later, and the former tuberculosis patient is a healthy young adult, and we never find out how he recovered. And there’s a new character who was born shortly after part one ended.

Part two involves another around-the-world boat trip, this time at Kay’s instigation. Again, the ports of call are interesting, but the rest of the story is stilted. A red toothbrush that the character bought at Filene’s in Boston makes an appearance three times in part two, and I can’t figure out why we needed to know about it.

I’ll admit I like character-driven novels, and this novel is very much plot-driven. I think it could be a good book with a lot more editing, including both reworking the story and cutting parts that don’t help the plot move forward.

This is quite a different book. While the story is of the coming of age of a young girl, it is also a travel log, a homage to Greek literature and a study in relationships. The descriptive language of Kay’s views as she travels aboard the Morning Light places the reader on the deck with her. Her enthusiasm and respect for learning is to be admired. The book takes Kay from 13 into her 20’s as she learns from her past and struggles to find out where she belongs. Through her struggles, travels and friendships, Kay discovers what home really is and the importance of family.

I could not get into any type of good reading groove with this one. The beginning was confusing to the point in which I had to read the publisher's synopsis to figure out what was even going on. Then a little bit of the backstory is introduced about the two sisters and I start getting my hopes up. But that was short lived and I just never felt fully invested in the characters or the story. I think this is a case of a book just not being the right fit for me.

The story takes place in 1912 and from my understanding of the Author's Note this book is a work of fiction but the writer did draw some inspiration from real life events and people. This book can be placed in the historical fiction genre but much of it is the product of the author's creativity and imagination. Thea and Kay are half-sisters and there is a bit of an age gap between the two of them. After their father died, Thea put her plans of marriage on hold to relocate and raise her younger sister. Now ten years later, Thea is recently married to the captain of the Morning Light ship. The newlyweds and Kay set off for a lengthy voyage.

I felt like I was able to better understand after reading the Author's Note what she was going for in the book and I appreciate the attempt to bring something different to the historical fiction genre. Unfortunately I had a hard time with the actual execution and had a bit of a choppy reading experience. Early on I felt like it was setup for me to care about the two sisters, but ultimately I just didn't, especially in regards to Kay.

Judging by some of the other early reviews, either the story hits home with you or it is a complete miss. While I had problems with the story, it certainly doesn't mean other readers won't enjoy it.

Thank you to Netgalley and W. W. Norton Company for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

I found this book very interesting and well written. I enjoyed the adventures on the voyages that were taken. Marina Endicott brought the characters to life and I enjoyed being along their journey with them.

In 1911, a Nova Scotia merchant ship called the Morning Light set sail from Yarmouth under the command of Captain Francis Grant. How exciting it would be for his new wife Thea, and her half sister Kay, twenty years her junior, to voyage to the South Pacific! Thea and Francis were newly married after a ten year courtship, a long ten years. Thea had raised Kay when Kay's mother died. Now that Father had died as well, Thea was free to marry. Kay would accompany them aboard the sailing vessel.

"Kay did not care for this new entity, Francis-and Thea. She worried over what it might mean, how, her own life would be changed, or Thea's." Aboard ship she received lectures from Thea about whom she could or could not speak to, was nagged about school lessons, and told how she should spend her day. Night time brought frightful and terrible dreams, dreams of Father, principal of the Blade Lake School. "He was of the brimstone variety. She thought of the children shivering in their dormitory...even with two blankets...Bad things were done [in the name of] discipline, dignity diligence." Kay was grief stricken over the deaths of two students. After Mary's death, if Annie had been allowed to go home, the family would only have lost one child.

"Francis believed every ailment, physical or otherwise, could be cured by exposure to sea air...but Kay felt that, "No place was her place...Everywhere was places she had been taken to, or barged into. Even the Morning Light." There were, however, three lights in Kay's life. Mr. Brimner, a pastor, had signed on to spend one year teaching in Tonga and became Kay's tutor in exchange for his passage on the Morning Light. Kay was gifted a canine companion she named Pilot. Four pounds of tobacco was the exchange rate for an eight year old island boy soon to be Kay's adopted brother.

"No wind for four days, "...the life of the ship carried on at a suspended pace." The weather blew up finally as they neared the coast of Africa. "With the wind came driving rain...the storm broke properly, such heavy going through the troughs and valleys of the waves...they were forced to spend most of that day in their bunks being relentlessly rolled and slammed, until...the wind slackened...This general discomfort was complicated by quarrels below decks...".

"The Voyage of the Morning Light" by Marina Endicott, although a lovely seafaring journey, was populated by a plethora of characters, many arguably, seemingly non-essential. The main characters were not fully developed in this work of historical fiction.

Thank you W.W. Norton & Company for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.