The Lamplighter 

by Crystal J. Bell

2 out of 5

Synopsis

It’s an honor to bring light to the dark.

The nineteenth-century whaling village of Warbler is famous for its lucky ship figureheads—and infamous for people disappearing into the nightly fog. In this murky locale, the lamplighter is synonymous with safety and protection, and it’s a position Temperance assumes when her father is found hanging from one of the lampposts. Though Tempe proves competent, the town is still hesitant to let a woman handle this responsibility.

When a girl disappears after two lamps go out, Tempe’s ability to provide for her mother and younger sister hangs in the balance. She scrambles for answers, hindered at every turn by the village authorities’ call for her removal. As more villagers vanish under her watch, Tempe discovers unsettling truths about the famous Warbler figureheads and her own beloved father. But her warnings of a monster are ignored, even by her own family. Now she must follow the light out of her own fog of despair, as she faces the choice to look the other way or risk speaking out and possibly dooming herself and her sister to be among the lost.

Review

Temperance is the lamplighter in the town of Warbler - a job she inherited after her father's suicide.  Tempe is the only woman who holds such a position, in a male-dominated world. And she's the only one who isn't afraid of the dark, even when girls start to go missing.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

This book is set in the town of Warbler in the 19th Century, a small port popular with whaling ships.

The story follows Tempe as she works diligently, and twice as hard as any male counterpart might, as she knows that the town council won't hesitate to give her job to a man; and she needs the income to support her younger sister, and mentally-ill mother. Well, that and she takes a lot of pride in her work as a lamplighter, and it would be painful to give it up.

The good.

There were a couple of plot twists that I didn't see coming, which I was very impressed with.

I liked the general plot, and how it keeps you guessing throughout whether the horror is man-made or a monster in the mists. That part felt well done, and felt very realistic, as you wonder if a man is behind the deaths and disappearances, blaming it on something supernatural, or vice versa.

The not-so-good.

I found the book to be terribly slow and it was hard to get connected to the story, or any of the characters. Which was a shame, as it had potential.

I didn't like our main character and narrator, Tempe. She's 'woe-is-me' about absolutely everything, constantly makes bad decisions, then spends forever whinging about them. She spends her whole time alone, because she doesn't like other women, as she's 'not like other girls'.

And the way she treats everyone around her, including those she's supposed to love, is appalling. She's constantly belittling everyone, from her supposedly-beloved little sister, and supposedly-beloved-almost-fiance-Josiah, to every member of town, or visiting whaler, for not thinking like she does; although she makes no effort to compromise or empathise with them, Tempe would rather go off like a firecracker (I know that might be the point, but it was constantly hammered upon).

And then the ending -  or lack thereof. I know this is in the horror genre, but the ending felt anticlimactic, with too many questions and a big sense of ick.

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