Between Two Lights - by Beth Ann Mathews (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For fans of Wild and Lab Girl, a memoir of a young marine biologist's transformative summer at sea, where passion and risk upend her future, forcing her to navigate from emotional turmoil to a meaningful life--despite imperfect decisions.

Beth thinks she has her life mapped out--engaged to the love of her life, with a steady career path in marine biology and a future she could trust. But when she signs on to co-teach a summer field course on humpback whales aboard a tall ship, everything shifts.

At sea with her students, her world expands: remote islands, endless horizon, intriguing whale research, and a colleague whose passion for their work, and for her, sparks an affair she can't resist. What begins as a professional partnership becomes the turning point that upends her engagement, her carefully drawn plans for a career and family, and her sense of who she is.

On her own and caught between regret and desire, Beth throws herself into the rhythms of research, teaching, rekindling friendships, and the whales she studies from Hawaii to Alaska. Running long miles on land and charting new waters at sea, she begins to question not just whom she loves but also how to build a life rooted in purpose and community.

Review Quotes

"A heart-rending story of a young woman struggling to choose between two principled, passionate men she loved. Between Two Lights becomes an intimate friend, with Beth's struggles and breakthroughs encouraging our own."--Elizabeth Garber author of Implosion and Sailing at the Edge of Disaster

"Brimming with fascinating observations of whale biology and behavior, Between Two Lights kept me reading late into the night with its compelling blend of emotional turmoil, scientific wonder and life aboard cramped vessels at sea . . . where little goes as planned."--Liese Greensfelder, author of Accidental Shepherd

"In Between Two Lights, Mathews navigates an emotional storm, taking the reader on a braided voyage of sailing, biology, academia, and turbulent love. It is a voyage well worth taking."--Lynn Schooler, author of The Blue Bear, Walking Home, and The Last Shot

"Beth seamlessly intertwines interesting, educational whale facts with an account of her larger-than-life experiences, along with the great personal turmoil she endures, described with disarming honesty and vulnerability."--Lindy Weilgart, PhD, senior ocean noise expert for OceanCare and sperm whale specialist

About the Author

Beth Ann Mathews is a marine biologist and mother, and the author of Deep Waters: A Memoir of Loss, Alaska Adventure, and Love Rekindled. She has studied whales in Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, and the Northwest Atlantic, and taught marine mammal biology at the University of Alaska Southeast, where she led field research on seals, sea lions, and porpoises. She lives with her husband on an island near Seattle, where she enjoys hiking, writing, sailing, and wildlife photography.