Nearness of the Wild - The Lighthouse Chronicles

FINALIST AWARD, 2026. National Indie Excellence Awards (NIEA) for "New Fiction." 
 

A stranger. A secret. A ghost.

Kay Kelly resides in a remote nursing home on the Saugeen-Bruce Peninsula. Though an avid reader and painter, she feels increasingly forlorn and isolated from her fellow residents. Death appears to be her only remaining adventure.

But when a reclusive Marged Brice arrives at the home, Kay learns that life isn't quite finished with her yet.

Abandoned by her family, and claiming to be 134-years-old, Kay's new neighbour seems utterly alone.

But is she?

The voice of an unseen child, and the mysterious appearance of a diary from Marged's youth, transport Kay back to an 1899 lighthouse on the wild, tempestuous shores of Georgian Bay.

Against a backdrop of murder, a broken engagement, and a spectral child named "Perdita," the diary connects Kay to an unresolved secret in Marged's past.

Kay discovers that she may hold the key to Marged's anguished choice between two loves.

But will she share it?

Nearness of the Wild  is part of "The Lighthouse Chronicles" which includes Perdita, also available through Balsam Books.

"Hilary Scharper's unforgettable story-telling will leave you breathless and fascinated."—The Literary Housewife

"Her prose will haunt you." —The Globe and Mail

"Loved it! From the start, this book grips, continuing to keep you pinned, with its tale of love, diaries, avarice, ghostly girls and lighthouses!"

—Reedsy Featured Review

"This novel is more than just a romance set in Victorian Canada. It is a murder mystery that unfolds in a setting Jane Austen would appreciate."—Historical Novel Review

109,000 words