Federation Book Clubs Reads The Life Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Most of us agreed the novel’s only fault is its non-memorable, possibly non-relevant title, until someone said that the “light” that came into the main character Wanda’s life represents survival after two other characters became so meaningful to her in a lost world. We all involuntarily went, “Ahhhhh.” Other themes that came up in the book were climate change/climate-change deniers, adaptation/evolution, entropy, rebirth/regeneration, doomsday preppers, infrastructure, corporations/capitalism, technology, and having nowhere to go.

The novel begins with Wanda’s father, Kirby, an electric lineman, preparing for the onslaught of yet another extreme hurricane in Southeast Florida. Aware that no amount of sandbagging and boarding up windows would ever be enough, and that disaster funding had dried up, he still did anything he could to either keep his town’s power on or restore it later. Meanwhile, his pregnant, newlywed wife, Frida, has lost her joy—her beloved mother Joy—in a recent hurricane, and desperately wants her new family to leave. This includes Kirby’s two sons who seem to hate her. Frida cannot effectively communicate her prescient fears to Kirby, who has a hero complex.

One reader said, “The first fifty pages read like a hurricane, very intense, best pages in the book.” The book’s depiction of climate change is so plausible and could well be our future reality. Another book club member read the book with dread over seeing coastal towns, cities, states, and whole countries dysfunctional after going underwater. For one of us, it brought back memories of losing (not for good, thank G-d) her parents during Katrina.

The story jumps ahead through subsequent decades, following Wanda. It’s particularly scary to read how all institutions fall apart and along with them, the loss of all satellite communication. No more Internet, no more cell service. This novel has strongly built character development who survive via an intriguing new type of community—the smaller, the better.

Imagine living without any land.

“Now,” someone said, “is the time to pay attention.”

We all recommend The Light Pirate, especially the reader who said, “I enjoyed it so much I read it in one sitting.” He literally couldn’t put it down.

Beth Buechler
Community Contributor

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Upcoming Books:

• August 8: First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

• September 12: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

• October 10: James by Percival Everett

• November 7: The Women by Kristin Hannah

The Federation Book Club meets via Zoom at 4:00 PM on the second Thursday of the month.