The continent was limited and finite. Extending beyond into the North Atlantic, as if by an afterthought or the remnant of a retreat, there was a solitary stone islet. Barely a hundred yards in diameter, it looked at first glance to be a barren place, though it was a nesting ground for seabirds and was visited by seals at times. Its forbidding circumference of black boulders had been hard pounded by the ocean for countless millennia, though above high-water mark, a shallow turf rose to a prometory upon which stood a lighthouse.
Opening paragraph from Michael D. O’Brien’s, The Lighthouse.
Michael O’Brien has easily been my favorite novelist since I first read Father Elijah back in 1998. I’m looking forward to enjoying this 2020 release that somehow I have missed up until now.
What are you reading?
Mitigating Chaos 
“Walking With Spring” by Earl V. Shaffer.
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I looked it up. As one who hiked portions of the AT in my younger days, I’ll be adding this one to my list. Thanks.
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You’re welcome Ray. I’ve been ‘on’ the AT but never hiked any of it but small portions. Have you read about Grandma Gatewood?
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I have not heard of her, but will search for her soon. I’ve never considered hiking the entire trail, but did parts in MD, PA, NJ and NY….all when I was much younger.
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Grandma Gatewood was the first female to hike through. She did it 3 or 4 times. Once it was done in ‘parts and pieces’ but the other times it was clear through. Her first hike was in her sixties!
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Reading ” The Longest Silence” by Thomas McGuane and “The Thousand Hour Day” by W.S. Kuniczak. I’ll take a look at Michael O’Brien.
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O’Brien is hard for me to describe. His novels, often set in remote areas, tend to deal with good vs evil. He is “orthodox” Catholic and brings some of that to his stories. He writes of times and places that I’m not familiar with, but when done with the book, I feel as if these are places I’ve lived my entire life . . . Or want to. Lighthouse is one of his shorter novels at 200 pages and I made my way through approx 130 pages this weekend and will complete it next Saturday. I will make a note to look into the authors/books you mentioned. Thanks.
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