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Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson

Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson tells the story of Silver, an orphan girl taken in by the blind lighthouse keeper Mr. Pew. Pew tells Silver stories of Babel Dark, a 19th century clergyman who lived a life of darkness and deceit publicly but passion with his lover privately. Dark's story becomes a guide for Silver to find her own story and love. The novel uses interwoven stories and explores themes of identity and the transformative power of storytelling. Jeanette Winterson is praised for her innovative approaches to voice, time, and perspective in crafting fictional narratives.

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769 views

Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson

Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson tells the story of Silver, an orphan girl taken in by the blind lighthouse keeper Mr. Pew. Pew tells Silver stories of Babel Dark, a 19th century clergyman who lived a life of darkness and deceit publicly but passion with his lover privately. Dark's story becomes a guide for Silver to find her own story and love. The novel uses interwoven stories and explores themes of identity and the transformative power of storytelling. Jeanette Winterson is praised for her innovative approaches to voice, time, and perspective in crafting fictional narratives.

Uploaded by

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson

Jeanette Winterson
ISBN:9780156032896

About the book:
Lighthousekeeping tells the tale of Silver ("My mother called me Silver. I was born part precious
metal, part pirate."), an orphaned girl who is taken in by blind Mr. Pew, the mysterious and
miraculously old keeper of a lighthouse on the Scottish coast. Pew tells Silver stories of Babel
Dark, a nineteenth-century clergyman. Dark lived two lives: a public one mired in darkness and
deceit and a private one bathed in the light of passionate love. For Silver, Darks life becomes a
map through her own darkness, into her own story, and, finally, into love.
One of the most original and extraordinary writers of her generation, Jeanette Winterson has
created a modern fable about the transformative power of storytelling.
About the author:
JEANETTE WINTERSON is the author of several works of fiction, essays, and, most recently,
a childrens picture book. Her numerous awards include the Whitbread First Novel Award, the
John Llewelyn Rhys Prize, and the E. M. Forster Award. She lives in Oxfordshire and London.
Discussion Questions:
1. Discuss the novels opposing epigraphs. In what way do both quotations speak to Silvers
mandates? What understanding of lifes instabilities does Silver express in the opening
paragraphs of Lighthousekeeping?
2. Who are Silvers beacons? In Silvers mind, does her mother light any paths for her, or does
she extinguish them? Is Miss Pinch a purveyor of only dark episodes?
3. What ironies do the characters names possess, from Babel to Pew? Does the town (called
Salts) yield only bitterness?
4. Jeanette Winterson has been widely praised for innovative approaches to voice, time, and
point of view when creating a storyline. What is the effect of the enfolded stories in
Lighthousekeeping? How does Pews storytelling tone compare to Silvers?
5. Babel Dark wouldnt marry Molly because he didnt trust her. Does his religious hypocrisy
empower him or undermine him? What does his treatment of his wife reveal about the nature of
abuse?
6. What parallels exist between Silver and Mollys daughter, Susan?
7. What makes Silver so captivated by the Dark legends? How do these legends compare to the
other narratives she relishes, such as Death in Venice, the account of Captain Scotts final
mission, or Wagners Tristan and Isolde?
8. When Silver asks Pew to tell her a story that begins again, he says this is the story of life. At
what points does her life story begin again? To what extent do all life stories begin again?
9. Why cant Silvers Psychiatrist for Young Offenders discern the logic in her thinking? Do you
perceive Silver as a rational person on the lam from an irrational world, or is her story
surrealistic? Is imagination inimical to rational thought?
10. Miss Pinch said Pew was an orphan from Glasgow; what is your understanding of his
identity? What do you think of his conversations with Babel Dark about the liaisons with Molly
in the lighthouse?
11. What enables Silver to be loved at last? What enables her to trust her lover and create beauty
with her, while Darks experiences with Molly were equal doses of anguish and beauty? What is
the effect of Silver telling her love story in second person?
12. Already drowned, Dark releases the seahorse and sets out to be reunited with Molly. How do
you interpret his final scene?
13. Discuss Silvers homecoming to the lighthouse and her reunion with Pew and DogJim. How
does her understanding of life at that point compare to when Pew first took her in?
14. What literary techniques does Winterson use to blend historic narratives with Silvers
contemporary one? What balance does she strike between humor especially in word plays
and pathos?
15. The love stories portrayed in Wintersons previous novels have spanned cybersex and the
French Revolution. Read as a continuum, what truths and possibilities about love does her fiction
resolve?
16. In terms of ancestry, fantasy, or your favorite literature, which narratives have most shaped
your identity? What story have you told throughout your life?

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