Bright Island is a 1938 children’s novel by Massachusetts author Mabel L. Robinson. Set on the coast of Maine, it follows Thankful Curtis, a teenage girl from a long line of seafarers, as she struggles between her attachment to her family’s island home and the opportunities offered by formal education on the mainland. The novel portrays her growth through experiences at school, conflicts with peers, and her eventual reconciliation of tradition and change.
Bright Island was awarded a Newbery Honor by the American Library Association in 1939. Known for its detailed depiction of island life and its themes of independence, family duty, and coming of age, the novel remains Robinson’s best-known work.
Summary[]
Sixteen-year-old Thankful Curtis, the youngest child of Mary and Jonathan, lives on her family’s small island off the coast of Maine. Thankful, home-schooled by her mother, has grown up largely alone, and spends her days sailing her boat, the Gramp, with her pet, a crippled seagull named Limpy.
Shortly after her grandfather dies, Thankful’s four brothers and their wives (“the girls”) return to the island for Sunday dinner. The girls argue that Thankful should be sent to high school on the mainland. To her dismay, her parents agree. Dave Allen, a young friend from the mainland studying seamanship, also encourages her. Thankful learns that her grandfather left her a legacy intended for her education. Rather than economize by attending public school while lodging with her in-laws, she decides to enrol at “the Academy”.
Dave passes his seamanship exams and accepts a position aboard a government cutter. He then suggests, rather than proposes, that they might marry in a year’s time. Thankful appreciates his loyalty but surprises herself by being curious to see what the Academy offers.
At the Academy, Thankful has her first experiences of electric lights, running hot water, and a busy communal life. She must share a room with Selina, a snobbish girl who first mistakes her for a maid, and whose popular and handsome boyfriend, Robert, owns his own sloop.
Thankful’s isolated childhood makes her awkward, but the Academy staff quickly recognize her ability. Orin Fletcher, the Latin master, has her moved into senior classes so that she can complete the curriculum in a single year. Visting the coast, she impresses Robert with her knowledge of the sea and befriends an elderly local, Mr. Dinkly, who invites her to come lobster-trapping at weekends.
At a costume party organized by Selina, Thankful wears her late brother Robbie’s Highland tartan. She quickly learns the foxtrot from Fletcher, and with his encouragement performs a Highland Fling to great applause. This performance secures her a place in Academy society, and Selina’s grudging respect. Robert, however, takes offense at her awkwardness with a waltz and begins to treat her coolly.
After an outing with Mr. Dinkley, Thankful looks out for Robert’s sloop, on which he has taken Selina. When she sees the sloop capsize before reaching harbour, Thankful risks her life to rescue them in Mr. Dinkly’s boat. Selina is genuinely grateful, Robert seems to be.
During Thanksgiving, Mary Curtis invites her daughter home and suggests she bring a friend. Selina seizes the opportunity and proves very charming, winning over the Curtises, and Dave, who shows both girls the cutter on which he now serves.
At Christmas, Robert accompanies Thankful to the island while studying for Harvard examinations. His disdain alienates Jonathan and Thankful’s brothers, though he charms “the girls”. His subterfuge regarding the gift of a radio from Selina confirms Thankful’s newly poor opinion of him. Failing his examinations, Robert soon turns his attention to a student with Hollywood connections.
In her second term, Thankful excels in a navigation course, in which Fletcher is a mature student. A class excursion on Dave’s cutter ends in mishap when Selina is swept overboard. Although Dave rescues her, Robert later claims credit, and Selina does not contradict him, wanting no more to do with him. Soon after, Dave is offered the opportunity to become a pilot.
That Easter, Mary Curtis contracts pneumonia after returning from a trip to the mainland. Fletcher takes Thankful home, and brings a specialist, Dr. Dean. After an anxious vigil, Mary recovers. During the ordeal Fletcher confesses his love and asks Thankful to accompany him abroad to Oxford. Thankful declines, unable to abandon the island and her parents. Her sense of belonging is confirmed when Dave’s cutter returns.
By May, Thankful has passed her examinations. Her mother acknowledges that Thankful has grown into womanhood, and tells her that her grandfather has left sole ownership of the Island to Thankful. The story closes after Dave returns to Thankful in his pilot’s uniform, and she looks forward to marrying her sea captain, fulfilling a childhood hope she had once confided to her grandfather.
Characters[]
- Thankful Curtis: The protagonist, a teenage girl from Bright Island, Maine. Raised in isolation, she is independent, resourceful, and deeply tied to the sea. Over the course of the novel, she grows from a reluctant islander into a confident young woman and de facto head of her family.
- Mary Curtis: Thankful’s Scottish-born mother. Practical and loving, she home-schools Thankful until sending her to the Academy. Her illness later tests the family’s strength.
- Jonathan Curtis: Thankful’s father, a stoic farmer with traditional views on a girl's place.
- The Curtis brothers and their wives (“the girls”): Thankful’s four married brothers and their spouses, who argue that she should receive a formal education on the mainland. They represent both pressure to change and the tensions of family expectations.
- Dave Allen: A young seaman and friend of Thankful. He advances from a student of seamanship to a government cutter crewman, then a ship's pilot. A steady and loyal presence, he ultimately becomes Thankful’s intended partner.
- Selina: Thankful’s Academy roommate. Wealthy, proud, and at first scornful, she later displays charm and social skill. She is both rival and ally, complicating Thankful’s school life.
- Robert: Selina’s boyfriend, a boastful yachtsman from a wealthy family. He alternates between courting Selina and showing interest in Thankful. His arrogance, unreliability, and eventual failure at Harvard mark him as a foil to both Dave and Thankful.
- Orin Fletcher: The Academy’s young, handsome Latin master. Encouraging of Thankful’s abilities, he develops feelings for her and later asks her to come with him to England.
- Mr. Dinkly: An elderly mainlander who befriends Thankful and takes her boating. His role highlights her skill and continued connection with the sea.
- Limpy: Thankful’s pet seagull, who must also find his wings.
Recommendations[]
If you enjoyed Bright Island, you may also like these other coming-of-age stories
- Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea – Anne Shirley, an orphan brought to work on a Canadian farm, finds her true family in the Cuthberts. Anne's coming-of-age arc is completed in the the sequel, Anne of Avonlea, when she is the same age as Thankful.
- Daddy Long Legs - In 1912 a mysterious benefactor, "Mr. Smith", pays for Judy Abbott to leave the orphanage where she was raised and to attend university. His only condition: she write regularly to him about her life, friends, sports and achievements at the university.
- Dobry tells the story of a Bulgarian farmer's boy who wishes to become a sculptor. As he grows to young adulthood, his talents grow with him- but can he win over his mother, who wishes him to continue to work the farm?
- Sioned is the story of a Welsh farm girl, Janet Hughes (Sioned to her family), from age 16 to 19, as she lives the hard times of Victorian Wales and London, telling us all about it with wry, slightly black humor.