The Brighter the Light

Ivy Neal moved away from home right after she graduated high school to make a name for herself in New York City.  It’s been nearly a decade and she had a good run in the city’s restaurant scene, but when the woman who raised her dies suddenly, Ivy returns to her Outer Banks roots to handle her grandmother’s estate.  Desperate to work on the sale of her grandmother’s property without running into old friends and her high school boyfriend, she dives right in.  Except there’s no way to avoid your past in small town.  For Ivy, that includes her family’s history on the island going back to her grandmother’s own childhood.

The Brighter the Light from Mary Ellen Taylor delivers drama, history, suspense, and romance.  Taylor weaves a dual timeline narrative that revolves around the common thread of a mysterious shipwreck that appears only at pivotal moments in Ivy’s family history.  This novel faces the drama of family secrets, teen pregnancy, and adoption head on and accurately portrays how our actions impact future generations. 

I give The Brighter the Light 4 out of 5 stars.  A good dual timeline novel requires a central theme to bring the stories together and Taylor delivers that with both the ship, and the questions about the characters’ lineages.  I did struggle with staying interested in both women’s stories though – first the grandmother’s and later Ivy’s.  I also found the inclusion of a girlfriend for Ivy’s ex-boyfriend in later chapters unnecessary and it did not add anything to the story but slow it down in a frustrating way.  I did appreciate the undercurrent of what really makes a family – not necessarily genetics, but love and caring. 

With an overarching theme of familial loss and grief, along with the inclusion of physical violence, I would recommend this novel for audiences over the age of 13.  This would make a great book club choice – I can see my friends spending a good evening debating Ivy’s choices and discussing similarities with her grandmother.  If you live in or vacation on the Outer Banks, you’ll love this book!

I chose The Brighter the Light for the Friends and Fiction Book Club June prompt: a book with dual timelines.  I’ve had this book in my Kindle library for a year!  It was an Amazon First Reads pick in June 2022 and, as of the writing of this review, is available with Kindle Unlimited for free!  This was the first book I read from Mary Ellen Taylor, but will not be my last.  I have been thinking about these characters since finishing the book this weekend and wanting more!  I was excited to find out Taylor released When the Rain Ends continuing the story of Ivy’s best friend Dani and her family – it is also available on Kindle Unlimited as of this writing.  I hope you like Taylor’s works as much as I do! 

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What I’m Reading

• Current print book: At The Coffee Shop of Curiosities, Heather Webber
• Current audio book: Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt
• Book I’m most looking forward to: The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise, Colleen Oakley