“Flem­ing presents fas­ci­nat­ing infor­ma­tion about the var­i­ous women who tend­ed Amer­i­can light­hous­es despite hor­ri­ble weath­er and some­times great per­son­al tragedy. The intro­duc­tion reach­es back to 1768 and the role Han­nah Thomas played in pro­tect­ing the Mass­a­chu­setts coast dur­ing the Amer­i­can Rev­o­lu­tion. The author devotes sep­a­rate chap­ters to Ida Lewis, described at her funer­al as “…the most remark­able woman New­port [RI] ever pro­duced”; Kate Walk­er, who raised a fam­i­ly while serv­ing as a light­house keep­er; Har­ri­et Col­fax, who tend­ed the Michi­gan City Light­house; and Emi­ly Fish, who tend­ed the Point Pinos Light­house in Mon­terey, CA, and brought with her a remark­ably ele­gant lifestyle. The text is easy to read, clear, and well orga­nized. Black-and-white illus­tra­tions and pho­tographs, par­tic­u­lar­ly of the sub­jects in their corsets and long skirts, rein­force just how unusu­al these women were. A book that will attract adven­ture-seek­ers and his­to­ry buffs from coast to coast. (School Library Jour­nal, Joan Soulliere)