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The Light Pirate

The Light Pirate

by Lily Brooks-Dalton

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About this book

Florida is slipping away. As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels gradually wreak havoc on the state’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Kirby Lowe, an electrical line worker; his pregnant wife, Frida; and their two sons, Flip and Lucas, prepare for the worst. When the boys go missing just before the hurricane hits, Kirby heads out into the high winds to search for them. Left alone, Frida goes into premature labor and gives birth to an unusual child, Wanda, whom she names after the catastrophic storm that ushers her into a society closer to collapse than ever before.

As Florida continues to unravel, Wanda grows. Moving from childhood to adulthood, adapting not only to the changing landscape, but also to the people who stayed behind in a place abandoned by civilization, Wanda loses family, gains community, and ultimately, seeks adventure, love, and purpose in a place remade by nature.

Told in four parts—power, water, light, and time—The Light Pirate mirrors the rhythms of the elements and the sometimes quick, sometimes slow dissolution of the world as we know it. It is a meditation on the changes we would rather not see, the future we would rather not greet, and a call back to the beauty and violence of an untamable wilderness.

About the author

Lily Brooks-Dalton

Lily Brooks-Dalton

Lily Brooks-Dalton is an American writer. She is most recently the author of Ruins (2026) and The Light Pirate, which was the Runner-Up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in 2023 and a Good Morning America book club pick. Her first novel, Good Morning, Midnight, was made into the film The Midnight Sky and her memoir, Motorcycles I've Loved, was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Brooks-Dalton

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The Light Pirate

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