The Inspiration Behind The Light on Farallon Island
A STRONG SENSE OF PLACE
“The Islands of the Dead” was the working title of my novel, and is one of the nicknames for the Farallon Islands. I first fell under their spell a few years ago, when reading Susan Casey’s The Devil’s Teeth. It’s a wholly fascinating nonfiction book, but the most captivating aspect for me was the nature of the Farallones themselves. They’re gorgeous and foreboding and struck me as so inherently Gothic, with their stark, strange beauty and their isolation and eerie fogs—they seemed, in fact, like they could be the dark, desolate manor from which some intrepid heroine might flee (but only after she’d been inexorably drawn there).
I knew I had to set a story there, and I knew I wanted it to be historical; I always gravitate to the bygone, and the thought of being on these islands before electricity and radio communications was irresistibly intriguing—so I began wondering what sort of people would want to come to such a lonely, daunting place, even knowing (or thinking they knew) all its dangers.
My two main characters, Amelia and Will, really took shape around that notion: that they would choose to come to such a place, in large part to flee their pasts, and to protect themselves…but also, perhaps, to punish themselves a little. Neither one of them expecting or intending to form strong bonds with another person ever again, yet seemingly fated to do just that (with plenty of complications in store).
REACHING FARTHER BACK
Decades ago, I had another enthralling experience reading Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea. It chronicles the 1820 Essex whaleship disaster and the history of Nantucket, and it fired my imagination just like Susan Casey’s work would later. I never knew quite what to do with that whale-shaped story seed, though, so I carried it around for 20+ years waiting for the right sort of creative soil in which to plant it.
When I read about the vast scale of murre egg depredation on the Farallones, I was immediately reminded of the whaling industry—and then it struck me that Southeast Farallon was an interesting analogue to Nantucket. These islands are extremely different in character (and on opposite sides of the country), but both have such distinct personalities and rich histories; it seemed almost fated that they should be connected in one tale (much like Amelia and Will…), so I wove whaling and a semi-fictionalized version of the Essex disaster into Amelia’s background.
BUILDING CHARACTER(S)
The true story of the Essex disaster famously inspired Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, which in turn inspired me, particularly when it came to the characters of Amelia’s father and of Elijah Salter, a lighthouse keeper; both of these men were heavily influenced by Captain Ahab.
And then—and always—there is Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, which was the first “grown-up” book I ever read (Stephen King came soon after). I immediately fell in love with Jane, who has lived in my head and heart ever since. I couldn’t help but think of her when writing my own tale of a solitary governess taking up a lonely post in a place where secrets and dangers lurk…and where she meets a brooding fellow with a checkered past and a charming dog.
RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
Inspiration is only part of the process, of course. Once I began researching the setting, I came to rely heavily on The Farallon Islands: Sentinels of the Golden Gate by Peter White and Farallon Islands: The Devil’s Teeth by Marla Daily and the Santa Cruz Island Foundation for the Images of America series. Both books contain a wealth of information and paint vivid pictures of the islands (and contain lots of actual photos too). If you’re interested in learning more about this beguiling place, I highly recommend both titles.
Finally, during my early research, I also came across The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni, another novel set on the Farallones, in modern times. Once you’ve been enchanted by these remarkable islands, her book will take you back again.
(And if you haven’t yet read mine but want to, you can find it here, or check your local library.)