SHADOW OF THE LIGHTHOUSE

The author of The Terrible Wave (KR, 1972) has chosen another watery setting, New Jersey's Long Beach Island some generations ago when its beaches were still solitary and the ""summer crowd"" few in number. Jane's father is a scholarly lighthouse keeper who has come to the island to write and her mother is, unfortunately, another of those frustrated housekeepers pining in silence for the amenities of Philadelphia and out of sympathy with Jane's love of drawing and her friendship for neglected, raffish Dolly Speers. Jane's rebellious impulse to run away leads -- through an intricate chain of coincidences -- to Dolly's elopement with a near stranger, a yachting tragedy and, in mother's absence, a chance for Jane to redeem herself by organizing the rescue party. By the time Mama returns Jane has broken her leg, making her dependent again and thus defusing the mother/ daughter conflict. But if the Jones family is cut from a well worn pattern, at least Jane's keen eye for sea treasures, some weathertight characterizations and a knotty, unanswerable riddle of cause and effect keep the whole adventure seaworthy.