The Brighter the Light: family secrets and discovery of inner strength

The Brighter the Light by Mary Ellen Taylor is a dual-timeline story of one woman’s journey to discover the stories hidden in her family’s past. Legends say when a shipwreck surfaces, old secrets are discovered. It seems to be true in Ivy Neale’s hometown of Nags Head, North Carolina. When she inherits her family’s beachfront cottage after her grandmother Ruth’s death, she’s prepared to face Dani, her best friend, and Matthew, her boyfriend, that she left behind twelve years ago. As Ivy begins to shift through her grandmother’s belongings, a winter gale uncovers the shipwreck of the Liberty T. Mitchell. A strange series of events as Ivy finds clues to the family secrets so long held in silence. One particular secret brings forth the fateful events of the summer of 1950 as twelve year old Ruth experiences a summer that will change her life forever. Will the truth finally be revealed? Will Ivy discover a strength she didn’t know she had to make her home by the sea? 

I chose this book as my Amazon Reads title. I was dazzled by the beautiful cover and intrigued by the story description. The Brighter the Light is an emotional family drama with secrets galore along the North Carolina shore. Ivy is a young woman who desperately wanted to leave Nags Head at 18 and did. She never looked back until her grandmother’s funeral. Now she must deal with Ruth’s packed cottage. What she sees as useless junk appears to have deeper meanings as she finds connections to the summer of 1950. She also discovers aspects about her grandmother that she never knew and a strength she didn’t know she had. I enjoyed The Brighter the Light as I could not put it down. I enjoyed the added mysterious air of the shipwreck appearance. This book is my first by Ms. Taylor and I look forward to reading more of her books. If you enjoy family secrets and discovery of inner strength, I recommend The Brighter the Light. 

The Brighter the Light is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook