The Night Mark(109)

There they were. Cadmium yellow and dioxazine violet.

Yellow for the dress and violet for the eyes, for her Elizabeth Taylor eyes.

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Author’s Note


This book is a work of fiction inspired by the real story of Florence Martus of Savannah, Georgia, a lighthouse keeper’s sister. According to local lore, Florence fell in love with a sailor, became engaged to him and, after he shipped out, took it upon herself to greet every ship that came into the Port of Savannah in the hopes her lover was aboard. As far as I know, he never returned, but Florence is forever remembered as a symbol of Savannah’s hospitality to visitors.

While there is no Bride Island in South Carolina, there is a Hunting Island, and several of the details about the Bride Island lighthouse were taken from the real Hunting Island lighthouse. It’s worth visiting if you have the time and two dollars to spare.

This book was written with affection and admiration for the men and women of all nationalities, religions, and races who served in lighthouses all over the world, affection and admiration that only grew as I read their letters, diaries and memoirs. I am forever grateful to the keepers, their spouses and their children who wrote those records and published them for posterity. While most events in the book are pure fiction, one incident is taken from history’s record. A South Carolina lighthouse keeper did once save his wife from an alligator attack with an ax. Faye is correct in her assessment that such a man is rightly to be called a “badass.”

Also, thank you to Mary Herring Wright, author of the touching memoir Sounds Like Home: Growing Up Black and Deaf in the South, an invaluable resource while writing The Night Mark.

As always, thank you to my lovely readers.

Special thanks to the lovely people of Beaufort, South Carolina. Even without time travel, your town and its islands are a magical place.

Thank you to my amazing agent, Sara Megibow. And my deepest gratitude to my editor Susan Swinwood. It has been an honor and a joy working with you. I can never thank you enough for taking a chance on me and my weird weird books.

And endless thanks and love to my husband, author Andrew Shaffer.

My hero.