This was a fascinating story and so well-written. I never knew about Coney Island and the first incubators for premature babies. It's a poignant story about mothers and what they will do to protect. Highly recommended.

This book of historical fiction is based on an interesting subject I knew nothing about until reading.

However this unfortunately didn’t hold my interest very well. The dueling storylines between Althea and Stella were okay, but I was disappointed that I didn’t learn much about the historical side of the plot until much later in the story. In the beginning I was left wondering why a medical staff with incubators for babies was at Coney Island and not in a hospital.

This just wasn’t for me I suppose.

I absolutely loved this book. Self-sacrifice is the name of the game. It is an attention keeper from the first to the last page. This is the first book I have read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

As a mother self sacrifice is the name of the game. Preemies as side show freaks was news to me, but the heart of this historical fiction is a mother's love.

Three months after her mother’s death, Stella uncovers old secrets and discovers she is more like her mother than she had ever thought.

I loved this book. A great story that touched my heart. Highly recommend to those seeking out a great mother daughter story with some history. Wonderful!

What a moving story about the sacrifices a mother makes in the name of love! As a mother myself, I felt this theme in my bones as I read this poignant book. The narrative unfolded smoothly and the characters were realistic and fully developed. I loved every page of this impressive debut!

Thank you to NetGalley and G. P. Putnam's Sons for access to this arc.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.. I loved this book; it was a very emotional journey across dual times lines. And reading about the challenges that these women had to face was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. The decisions that had to be made by both of them, more so Althea, were complicated and posed moral dilemmas on what the right thing would be.

This book takes place across several decades. If I would describe this book in one sentence it would be as follows: The love child between Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate and The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue. You develop and emotional connection with the characters and there the difficult positions each of the women find themselves. I will definitely be adding this collection to our public library as well as my personal one.

My thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
Historical fiction can teach us much about things we never questioned or why things are or even events that have been lost to time. Addison Armstrong in The Light of Luna Park shows a part of Coney Island history that I knew nothing about, or even thought could be. Combined with a strong female character who faces all the chauvinism and claptrap that woman had to (have to) deal with with a strong righteous spirit that bends but does not break. Add in a family not of blood but of choice and love you have a wonderful story that reminds a person of why books can lift you up and remind you of how wonderful the world can be. A truly enjoyable story.

What a phenomenal book!

The Light of Luna Park was a captivating story following two timelines of mother and daughter as they each grappled with societies that identify groups of individuals who can be cast aside. The parallels between the two stories helped to emphasize the impact one individual can make but also the emotional impact such a journey can have for the individual and those around them. I couldn't help but become attached to the characters as they experienced the joys and sorrows of their life based on their choices. In addition, The Light of Luna Park shed a light on a piece of history that is hardly mentioned or known about, crafting a deep interest to learn more about throughout the story. The connection between historical fiction, family, and sacrifice created a well-rounded story that any reader could find a connection too.

Overall, The Light of Luna Park was a beautifully written story that I couldn't put down and I would highly recommend to read!

I loved this book! Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. The book tells the story of two women in different time periods. Althea Anderson is a nurse in training who wants to try to save the premature babies she sees on her obstetrics rotation. She reads about the incubator babies at Luna Park in Coney Island but can't get anyone to listen to her ideas. Stella Wright is a newlywed teacher whose mother recently passed away. She has just quit a job she loves and is struggling in her marriage when she finds a letter in her mother's things that change everything she thought she knew about her parents. This was such a quick easy read but the writing was fantastic. You really got a feel for the angst these women feel over the decisions that they make. Love of family is evident throughout the book as well as the sacrifices one is willing to make for those they love.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an electronic advanced copy in exchange for a review.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Interesting book! I had no idea about the history of incubators at Coney Island. I enjoyed this book, but I thought Althea was a little too selfless. She missed out on basically her entire life, except being Stella's mother. I completely get that was the point of the book, but I guess it just felt a little too far-fetched to me.

Great story about how far you will go for someone. I love historical fiction and this story did not disappoint. The characters are heartwarming and you get attached to them.

4.5 out of 5 stars

What a lovely debut novel from Addison Armstrong. It started off a little slow for me but then it hooked me and I couldn’t put it down.

Stella Wright is mourning the loss of her mother, struggling to educate children’s whose disabilities are deemed undesirable by society and trying to figure out how to handle a WWII veteran husband suffering from PTSD. After a fight with her husband, she flees to New York City to begin clearing out her mother’s empty apartment. What she finds turns her world upside down and she sets out on an adventure of not only self discovery but of her mother too.

Althea Anderson is studying to be a nurse at Bellevue. She’s currently in her obstetrics rotation and heart breakingly has to watch premature babies die before they even get a chance to live. When she discovers that a doctor has set up a ward at Luna Park with incubators for such babies, she tries to convince the doctor she is working with to send the infants there but he refuses. So...she takes matters into her own hands and “kidnaps” a baby in hopes of saving her. Her love for this child dictates every decision she makes going forward.

Being a historical fiction novel, I did turn to google a few times to learn a bit more about Luna Park and Dr Couney who is credited for saving thousands of children’s lives. It’s a fascinating moment in history and when a historical fiction novel encourages me to seek out more information, I consider that a major win. So I have to thank NetGalley & Addison Armstrong for allowing me to read this in advance. It was a great way to kick off my 2021 reading challenge!

THE LIGHT OF LUNA PARK
BY ADDISON ARMSTRONG

This was a delightfully warm debut novel with the big heartening love and sacrifices above all else a mother has for her child. A love so strong that it puts that child first above all other loves and passions. It is 1926 at Bellevue hospital where Althea is a nurse in training that wants nothing more than to work as a nurse helping to deliver babies. After witnessing one baby die because it was born too prematurely when she witnesses it the second time she does something so daring that if found out she could risk everything.

Stella in the 1950's feels strongly that special needs children should not be denied an education. Her and her students are relegated a basement room and Stella has put in a list of inventory to the school principal to be delivered on a Tuesday. When Stella receives the inventory for her students it's shocking and cruel what she discovers in the boxes ordered by the principal.

At Coney Island in the Lunar Park exhibit Dr. Couney has infants in incubators for exhibit. Stella mentions to the Doctor the incubators during a birth of a baby girl born early who weighs only 2 1/2 pounds and the doctor scoffs at the idea.

I wanted to see if the incubator's at Luna Park were really in existence there at Coney Island before they were in United States hospitals and indeed it seems they were as crazy as it seems in the 1920's.
Dr. Couney really was trained in obstetrics and neonatal care born in the 1800's. Here is an article that I found legitimizing his part in the historical aspect of this wonderful debut novel :
https://columbiasurgery.org/news/2015...

The convergence of Althea and Stella's story emerge when she quits her job teaching her special needs children and goes home to her mother's apartment in New York City. She has gone back to pack up some of her mother's things and starts with a treasure chest of memories that was special to her mother. I loved how strong the mother and daughter's love was. That element really made this book sparkle for me. I quickly devoured this in an afternoon. It was an unexpected surprise how much I loved this. I really also loved Stella's relationship with her husband also. I would have liked to learn more about the incubators but that wasn't the arc of the story so I understand. The arc was learning all that Althea gave up for the love of her daughter.

Publication Date: August 10, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley, Addison Armstrong and Penguin Group Putnam-G.P. Putnam's for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

##TheLightofLunaPark #AddisonArmstrong #PenguinGroupPutnamGPPutnams #NetGalley

Beginning in New York in the 1920's, a young nurse working in Labor and Delivery make a life changing choice. The history of the use of incubators for premature infants is informative. Being a previous L&D nurse, this story was of particular interest to me. The characters were well described, what choices they made and what the results were. I particularly liked the character with the post traumatic war experiences and how those issues were not addressed at that time. I thought that the ending was a little rushed, however I will strongly recommend this book.

Stella Wright, a teacher of special needs students in 1950s Poughkeepsie, New York, is grieving the passing of her mother. Longing to find a way to give her students what they need, Stella abruptly resigns from her teaching job as a result of an ongoing battle of wills with her principal. Needing to find closure, Stella makes one last trip into New York City to sort through her mom's possessions. What she finds leads her on a journey into the past, uncovering a secret her mom had kept for over two decades. As the novel switches back and forth between 1926 and 1951, readers share in the discoveries Stella makes about her birth as a premature baby in the days when few options for treatment were available. Will Stella find the answers she seeks? Will she return to her school to fight for the education of those unable to advocate for themselves? Find out in this compelling story of agonizing decisions made in the name of love.

This historical fiction novel is set in two different eras and follows the lives of Althea Anderson, a nursing student in the 1920’s, and Stella Wright, a special education teacher in the 1950’s. Not only was this book well written and engaging, but I found the subject matter to be extremely interesting as it dealt with the first incubators that were used for premature babies on Coney Island - a piece of history I knew nothing about! It also touched on the injustices and prejudices that special education students were subjected to in the 1950’s and as a teacher myself this subject definitely appealed to me.
While both of the main characters are well developed and each of their life stories interesting, I found Althea’s story much more interesting than I did Stellas. I admired Althea’s strength and intelligence and while I did not agree with the decision she ultimately made, I understood her reason for it. I found Stella to be a much weaker character and annoying, to be honest. Granted, she was dealing with the loss of her mother as well as the loss of her job, but her constant whining and inability to move on was exasperating at times.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I am giving it 4 stars out of 5 mainly because I felt that the author could have done a better job in her portrayal of Stella. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for a free electronic ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.