The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman on August 23, 2016
Genres: Fiction / Family Life / General, FICTION / Family Life / Marriage & Divorce, Fiction / General, Fiction / Historical / General, Fiction / Literary, Fiction / Media Tie-In
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
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I always enjoy a good historical fiction once in a while and this one with light houses was a good one! This had me feeling all the feelings!
Australia, 1926. After four harrowing years fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns home to take a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.
Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.
This was about the choices we make! I was so angry and happy at the same time about the choices in this book. This book made for some great discussion as it was for my library’s book club. I can’t imagine what would be like living in such an isolated way as a lighthouse keeper. This one will tear your heart out! I could sympathize with all the characters. As a mother myself, this one was harrowing and also sad. But the ending was hopeful maybe. The author did a great job with having you feel the conflicting feelings of all involved.