The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry - Anna Rose Johnson - ★★

AUTHOR: Anna Rose Johnson

GENRE: Middle-grade Historical Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: March 5, 2024

RATING: 2 stars.

In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices middle-grade historical fiction about an orphan sent to live with a new family. Great use of the lighthouse setting. Annoying main character. Good secondary characters. Slightly repetitive and bland storyline. Minimal Ojibwe representation. I hope it will work better for the target age group.

Plot Preview:

1912, Michigan. As eleven-year-old orphan Lucy Landry has no one to take care of her, she is sent to foster with a family selected by her late guardian. The Martins reside in a lighthouse in the middle of the gigantic Lake Superior. Lucy has been frightened of the water ever since her sailor father died at sea, but she doesn’t have any choice. Though the Martins are strangers to her, they seem kindhearted. However, there are too many of them and there is too much work to do, so Lucy struggles to fit in her new home. But one day, she learns that the lighthouse is near the site of a famous shipwreck that went down with the treasure her late father had been looking for. Lucy is determined to find that treasure in his memory. But how can she do that when she is still too frightened to travel on water?

The story comes to us in Lucy’s third-person perspective.

Given that this is a middle-grade historical fiction by an OwnVoices author, I had had high expectations. But to my dismay, the execution barely worked for me.

Lucy is presented as a highly imaginative child, who uses various alter egos such as Countess, Princess, Waif, or Actress as a coping mechanism during difficult situations. This becomes quite interesting, but also ends up making Lucy appear condescending and manipulative at times. She is like a pale imitation of Anne of Green Gables, the OG imaginative child.

Lucy is supposed to be eleven and was earlier staying with a guardian who was very particular about things like language and social behaviour. So it is baffling to see Lucy being so rude in her questions to the Martins. She doesn’t even realise when she crosses the line. As such, she ends up a slightly annoying character who doesn’t follow instructions, makes mistakes, apologises and then goes through the whole cycle again, with no redemption or learning. Not only does it become tougher to root for Lucy, but the story also feels somewhat repetitive because of this. One more thing that bugged me in Lucy’s arc was her sorta-“crush” on a visiting boy – an absolutely unnecessary addition to the plot.

The Martins are far better characters at least in their general portrayal. The two parents and their six kids ranging in age from teen to toddler, offer a good mix of characters and personalities. I liked how easy it was to keep track of the Martin kids despite there being six of them – their individual traits came across well. There are some instances when the adult Martins could have done better by Lucy, especially when she was struggling with nightmares, but with so many kids and a difficult job, I can understand how challenging their situation already was. On the whole though, they are very loving and accepting as foster parents.

The writing highlights perfectly the difficulty of adjusting in a new family, especially a large one. Getting used to the routine, trying to feel a part of the established group, learning new things while trying not to get in the way – this all comes across realistically. Sadly, Lucy jumps to the erroneous conclusion that she must be useful to be loved and accepted, and the plot does nothing to dissuade her of this notion.

As the Martins stay in a lighthouse, we get a wonderful insight into life on a lighthouse island and the stringent requirements of being a lighthouse keeper those days. The lighthouse, the island, and the vast Lake Superior all create an excellent atmosphere especially during times of adventure.

There are two adventures in the book. One is Lucy’s quest for the necklace. Given that this is mentioned in the official blurb, I thought this would present an interesting challenge, especially as Lucy is wary of water. However, the search was almost an anti-climax, as she finds the object on her very first attempt and without much efforts. Where’s the challenge in that?!

Secondly, the rescue adventure towards the end, where Lucy’s nautical heroics save the entire Martin family and hence she wins their admiration and acceptance. Well, the whole episode is more foolhardy than courageous, and hence utterly unconvincing. For a child who is scared of water to venture out on the sea during a storm and be the sole rescuer of a family with more rescue and swimming experience than she ever had – I think I would have rolled my eyes at this even as a child! Further, this just proved Lucy’s assumption that she needed to be useful to be loved – a wrong message to send to little readers.

The general vocabulary of the book is on the advanced side. (Here, I am talking of the English vocabulary and not the Anishinaabemowin or French words.) I enjoyed the precise phrasing, but it could go either way for middle-graders. There is a helpful glossary at the end containing all the Ojibwe and French words/phrases used in the book, along with their pronunciation guide.

A real missed opportunity in the book was having more info about Ojibwe culture. Lucy is supposed to be of French-Ojibwe heritage, and the Martins are also Anishinaabe. The Martins mention the importance of keeping heritage alive (a sentiment that won my heart!) and hence they teach Anishinaabemowin words to the kids. However, except for these random inclusions of Anishinaabemowin words, there is absolutely nothing about Ojibwe history or culture. Everything else about the Martin’s portrayal feels like that of standard white characters. In fact, the story contains some faith-based sentiments, but I am not even sure if the God referred to is the Christian God (many Ojibwe have converted to Christianity over the centuries and the lines sounded similar to what Christian believers might express) or some other indigenous God/divine entity. Such a disappointment from an OwnVoices work!

Overall, I think this book had its heart in the right place but needed much better plot and character development. Except for the Martin family and the description of life in the lighthouse, I didn’t find myself enjoying any aspect. Then again, mine is again an outlier opinion. (I am so tired of being an outlier!) So maybe you could read other reviews and take a better call on this OwnVoices work.

I cannot recommend this heartily, but it wasn’t so bad as well. Perhaps the right age group might enjoy this better. I would suggest co-reading this with your middle-graders and discussing the behavioural and cultural aspects for better understanding.

My thanks to Holiday House for providing the DRC of “The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better for me.