Guiding Lights

From: USD $39.99

The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women

Paperback Due for Release ANZ Aug 2024 / Rest of World Septemeber 2024


Click here for Audiobook | eBook

Women have a long history of keeping the lights burning, from tending ancient altar flames or bonfires to modern-day lighthouse keeping. Yet most of their stories are little known. Guiding Lights includes stories from around the world spanning two millennia, as we discover the physical and mental risks of isolation, the heroism of the female keepers, how they came to be hired (especially in the 19th century), and the mysteries and legends that are inextricably part of lighthouse history.

Specifications: Paperback / Hardback, Cased & Jacket | 229 x 152mm | 256 pages

Shona Riddell has a long-held fascination with lighthouses. A writer for 20+ years (including her subantarctic history book Trial of Strength with Exisle Publishing), Shona lives with her husband and two daughters in Wellington, New Zealand. She enjoys cold, windy weather and stories about remote locations.

Women have a long history of keeping the lights burning, from tending ancient altar flames to manning modern day lighthouses. Yet most of their stories are little-known. Guiding Lights is a collection of true stories spanning decades and continents, chronicling the lives of the extraordinary women who mind the world’s lighthouses.

From Hannah Sutton and her partner Grant, the two caretakers living alone on Tasmania’s wild Maatsuyker Island, to Karen Zacharuk, the keeper in charge of Cape Beale, Vancouver Island, where bears, cougars and wolves roam, the lives of lighthouse women are not for the faint of heart. Paired with stunning photographs, discover the tales of:

• The dramatic torching of Puysegur Point, one of NZ’s most inhospitable lighthouses.
• ‘Haunted’ lighthouses in across the US and their tragic tales.
• Lighthouse accidents and emergencies around the world.
• Two of the world’s most legendary lighthouse women, Ida Lewis (US) and Grace Darling (UK), who risked their lives to save others.

The book also explores our dual perception of lighthouses: are they comforting and romantic beacons symbolising hope and trust, or storm-lashed and forbidding towers with echoes of lonely, mad keepers? Whatever our perception, stories of women’s courage and dedication in minding the lights – then and now – continue to capture our imagination and inspire.

Ancestor Magazine
“this is a most readable account of lighthouses and their keepers and is indexed and beautifully illustrated. We, with our voyaging ancestors, owe the keepers a debt of gratitude for keeping the lights.”


Access Magazine (published by the Australian School Library Association) 
“profiles various women who have lived in harsh physical environments and faced personal and emotional challenges. Female lighthouse keepers have to learn how to overcome isolation, loneliness and brutal weather conditions, not to mention adapting to the lack of medical support for childbirth or child rearing. It is a fascinating read.”


The Scots News
“While history books are full of tales about male lighthouse keepers, Guiding Lights by New Zealand author Shona Riddell, shares the stories of lighthouse women (whether keepers, or wives and daughters of keepers) from around the world… These are stories of isolation, dedication, care and heroism.”


The West Australian – Travel Section
“Guiding Lights is more of a social history, which begins in ancient times and ends in our own, introducing us not just to brave women such as Ida Lewis and Grace Darling “who risked their lives to save others”, but to crucial broader subjects and themes such as lighthouses in literature, lighthouses as symbols, haunted lighthouses and isolation.”


Travel Writers Radio
“a terrific book … about extraordinary women”. Click here to listen


The Senior
“Shona Riddell has a long-held fascination with lighthouses and her new book Guiding Lights The extraordinary lives of lighthouse women is a tribute to these amazing women from around the world and throughout the centuries.” Click here to read


The Australian – Travel Section  
“This past week I’ve been obsessed with reading Guiding Lights: The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women by Shona Riddell. Many of these doughty women did it tough, not just as helper to their lighthouse keeper spouse, but often running the show.”


Brisbane Courier Mail and Daily Telegraph – recommended in their ‘Angela Loves’ column
“I am loving reading Shona Riddell’s Guiding Lights, a new book documenting the stories of women who have worked or lived in lighthouses”


Midwest Book Review
“A unique, eloquent, and impressively informative study, Guiding Lights: The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women by Shona Riddell is an extraordinary and highly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Women’s Biography & History collections in general, and Lighthouse History supplemental studies reading lists in particular.”


Signals Magazine – Published by the Australian National Maritime Museum
“An easy read, but not at all lightweight; it is painstakingly researched, attractively illustrated and thoroughly referenced. This fascinating book is highly recommended.”


Kete Books
“This is a book that celebrates women’s capability and determination while maintaining a sense of humour and humanity about its subjects. The lives of the lighthouse women were and are extraordinary and so is this treasury of their stories.” Click here for the full review.

Additional information

Book Type

Paperback, Hardback

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