A Quiet Life

Publisher: Whittles, 1997, G4, £ 14.95

Although most of the lighthouses, so well known to yachtsmen and deep sea mariners alike, continue to mark dangerous places, automation has all but eliminated the need for keepers. We are fortunate that Martha Robertson has recorded in her book an account of the unqiue life of the lighthouse keeper and his family in the days before such advancement. Her experiences of growing up in the usual environment that constituted a lighthouse station, where going out to play was often a major hazard, vividly portrays the exciting, different and often downright near impossible existence to the mundane life on the mainland. Martha brings her story to a delightful warmth and more than a touch of humour which makeds for easy reading and enlightenment. DAA.