The Brighter the Light

By: Mary Ellen Taylor

Narrated by: Megan Tusing

Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

From the bestselling author of Honeysuckle Season comes an evocative dual-timeline novel detailing one woman’s journey to discover the hidden stories of her family’s seaside resort.

When a shipwreck surfaces, old secrets are sure to follow.

Or so goes the lore in Ivy Neale’s hometown of Nags Head, North Carolina. When Ivy inherits her family’s beachfront cottage upon her grandmother’s death, she knows returning to Nags Head means facing the best friend and the boyfriend who betrayed her years ago.

But then a winter gale uncovers the shipwreck of local legend—and Ivy soon begins to stumble across more skeletons in the closet than just her own. Amid the cottage’s clutter are clues from her grandmother’s past at the enchanting seaside resort her family once owned. One fateful summer in 1950, the arrival of a dazzling singer shook the staff and guests alike—and not everyone made it to fall.

As Ivy contends with broken relationships and a burgeoning romance in the present, the past threatens to sweep her away. But as she uncovers the strength of her grandmother and the women who came before her, she realizes she is like the legendary shipwreck: the sands may shift around her, but she has found her home here by the sea.

©2022 Mary Burton. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“A gentle read…The nostalgia of the glamor of a 1950s summer vacation is palpable.”—Historical Novels Review

Oh my gosh!!!

I am not a fan of books that go back in time and then to present but this became my favorite one of those quickly! With all the twists, turns, and questions I was surprised by the turning events! It’s slow in the beginning and honestly I was concerned about Ivy’s detachment from history and family. But that’s probably because of how important family is to me. I

Good story

This was a good story. It's a dual timeline family story, full of secrets. Megan Turing made all the characters become real for me. I thought this story was well written.

Good book but I kept confusing the characters.

I ended up reading the book on Kindle. The chapters switched back and forth from 1922 and 1950. For some reason I just had a hard time switching back and forth so I read all of Ruth’s chapters and then all of Ivy’s chapters and it was much easier to follow.

A good read made better with a talented narrator!

Thoroughly enjoyed the dual time lines and history of this family. Looking forward to reading another book by the author. I read a few chapters, then listened to a few. Ended up listening to the last half of the book. Megan Tusing's narration is that good!

Loved it.

One of my favorite reads! Great story and well narrated. I would definitely recommend this book.

Loved this story- binged in 48 hours

This has become one of my favorite authors. Keeps you guessing and enjoying many aspects as the story goes back and forth in time!

Free read

Free read…just okay listened on Audible ..may have liked it better as a straight read

Long story , little excitement.

Don’t know why it got so many great reviews. It was just an ok story . Not very exciting. . Not bad not great .

Location Location Location

I was taken in by the setting for this novel. Descriptions of the seaside resort and the coastal landscape and weather were enough to keep me reading, no offensive characters, and storyline moved along sufficiently enough to stay with it, but the whole premise of the story was preposterous. (A fun word to use, but entirely accurate.) If you don’t care about the plot it’s a decent time-filler. I listened to it while working out and it was good enough to motivate me not to skip a day.

Good beach read

Heavy concentration is not required. Listen for a while. Sleep for a while. Find your last conscious place. Repeat. It's sort of a YA listen that kept me entertained, but not so much that I didn't nod off a time or two.