Last Light over Galveston
May 1900. Kathleen McDaniel, hungry, out of money, and fleeing from an evil man, stumbles onto an island beach in Galveston, Texas. She has decided to walk into the ocean and end her misery. But a building appears almost out of nowhere, a Catholic orphanage called St. Mary’s, where she will take refuge. She eventually makes some great friends, including Matthew, an assistant at the town weather bureau, and Maggie, an orphan with whom she forms a deep bond. Kathleen becomes Annie, and she works at the orphanage to pay for her keep while still fearing that her previous life as a woman of privilege, and the man who pursues her, will catch up to her. She begins to build a life, and then a hurricane threatens to sweep it all away.
The story is told in two locations—May through September 1900 in Galveston, and flashing back to March 1900 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, where Kathleen’s secrets begin. The Christian message of turning to God when all hope is lost is well portrayed in this story. The characters are compelling, and the descriptions of the Galveston hurricane and its aftermath are frightening and real. The contrast between 1900 Hudson Valley, where greed and ambition threaten the innocent and a man’s class status means more than his life, and 1900 Galveston, where classes all come together after a devastating hurricane, is apparent. This is a compelling story that highlights class differences and double standards at that time, while also stressing that money is not the answer to happiness. Recommended.
