Bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher has captivated readers with her Nantucket Legacy series. In the series’ dramatic conclusion, The Light Before Day (Revell), the author offers another fascinating story set in nineteenth-century Nantucket, based on a true event, that will both surprise and delight readers. After three years on a whaling voyage, Henry Macy returns to Nantucket to find out that he and his sister are set to inherit their grandmother’s vast fortune—but the inheritance comes with a steep cost, including when they should marry and whom. In this interview, Suzanne explains the changes her characters have gone through over the series, shares her favorite new character, and reveals the inspiration for her surprising plot…
The Light Before Day is the third book in the Nantucket Legacy series. How is this book different from the two preceding novels?
The series’ umbrella has been the historical rise and fall of Nantucket Island. The Light Before Day captures the steep decline of Quaker Nantucket in the mid-nineteenth century after decades as the wealthiest port in the world. Hitty and Henry Macy, children in Minding the Light, are now young adults, facing dramatic change in the island they love.
You introduce readers to some new characters in your book. Do you have a favorite character?
Astronomer Maria Mitchell, who was seeking a comet in this story (and eventually found it), became near and dear to my heart. And, of course, another favorite is Mary Coffin Starbuck—she’s woven all three books together through the secret in the journal she left behind.
The Light Before Day has some unexpected surprises. What was the inspiration behind your creative plot?
My inspiration was the actual historical events that were changing Nantucket in the 1830s and ’40s. Frederick Douglass, a former slave, gave his first public speech at the Atheneum, where astronomer Maria Mitchell worked as a librarian. The Great Fire of Nantucket, a historical event, was where I wanted this story to end. Getting there took some twists and turns.
The Nantucket Legacy series often references the whaling industry. For Phoebe’s Light and Minding the Light, your research took you to a number of whaling museums. Did The Light Before Day require a different type of research?
Much of the research for this book took place in the Nantucket Historical Association library, a treasure trove of trivia. I discovered curious details like the Cent School, disciplinary actions notated in Quaker meetings, and rumors about the source of cobbles for iconic Main Street. The NHA—it’s pure bliss for history buffs.
Have you learned something new about the Quakers after researching and writing the Nantucket Legacy series?
Mary Coffin Starbuck is credited with bringing Quakerism to Nantucket. From what I’ve read, she believed the island needed a religious scaffolding. Although she’d been opposed to Quaker theology as a young woman, she later embraced it and became a minister. Quaker values, such as honesty and frugality, contributed to a healthy foundation as Nantucket’s meteoric rise began.
What do you hope readers gain from reading The Light Before Day?
A financial windfall landed at the feet of Hitty and Henry Macy, but with it came a loss of personal freedom. All that glitters is not gold is the lesson of this book, even if it is, indeed, gold.
Visit Suzanne Woods Fisher’s author page:
https://www.familyfiction.com/authors/suzanne-woods-fisher
The Light Before Day
Nantucket Legacy #3
Suzanne Woods Fisher
Revell