The Light Between Oceans

by M L Stedman

"A novel set on a remote Australian island, where a childless couple live quietly running a lighthouse, until a boat carrying a baby washes ashore"--

• ISBN10: 1451681739
• ISBN13: 9781451681734
• Publish Date: 31 July 2012 (first published 26 April 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman has a very interesting premise, a couple who run a lighthouse find a baby and raise it as their own. I was intrigued and looked forward to reading of the consequences this act would invoke.

I enjoyed the sections of the book that described Tom and Isabel's courtship. It was sweet and gave a wonderful look at the characters at their best. In hindsight, I wonder if this was to soften the blow of the couple's self-indulgence later on. These long ago memories were a patronus to cover the unspeakable.

Lucy, the baby that Tom and Isabel discover and decide not to return because they deserve a child brings a whole new look at the saying "finder's keeper's". I will admit that the delusion they built for themselves was lovely, but in reality, it was Neverland and waited for the moment when it would fall apart.

When the day did occur, when Lucy was discovered and Tom and Isabel were charged with kidnapping I was relieved. I wasn't sure if I could take much more of Isabel's selfishness and Tom throwing good judgement to the wind to follow his wife blindly.

My biggest problem with The Light Between Oceans was that I felt like M.L. Stedman was trying to make the reader sympathetic to Tom and Isabel. This only perturbed me more and glared at the liars I knew they were. While I am not a parent, I cannot imagine this happening and raising a child as your own does not change the facts.

I preferred the part of the book that focused on Hannah, Lucy's mother. I enjoyed reading of how this situation came to be and the repercussions it caused on land. It had more dimension and moved me more than Isabel's miscarriages every could.
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Noah Taylor, the books narrator was fantastic and if nothing else I'm glad to discover a new storyteller. Sadly, I could not say this for The Light Between Oceans. The unlikability of the characters and their unjustifiable actions was too much to handle and was in desperate need of S.O.S.

This review was originally posted on First Impressions Reviews

[wcs53]

The Light Between Oceans is a great debut novel. I know that has been written by others elsewhere, but the reality is that it is true. Set in Australia a few years after World War I, this is a story about how one choice, made out of love and desperation, can have a long-lasting and devastating impact on the lives of many people.

I don't want to give away too much as one of the best things about this book is that it didn't end predictably. The story centres around Tom Sherbourne who has returned to Australia after fighting at the front lines of World War I. He wants to forget his time in the war and there seems to be a lot that is haunting him. He takes a job with the Lighthouse Board and ends up manning one of the more remote lighthouses, Janus Rock. It is about half a day's journey from the mainland and shore leave is sparse. It suits him well until on one shore leave in Partageuse he meets and falls for a young local called Isabel Graysmark. They eventually marry and she moves out to Janus with him.

Initially their time their is idyllic, but things get strained when she suffers two miscarriages and a stillbirth. Then one day she hears a baby crying in the wind. Seeing a boat wash up on the shore, Tom and Isabel discover where the crying has come from. In the boat there is a young baby girl along with a dead man, who appears to be her father. Instead of following his initial instinct, which is to report his find, Tom is persuaded by his wife to bury the dead man and keep the bay as their own. She just recently suffered the stillbirth and people would have no problem believing this young girl to be their own child.

The decision to keep the child is the central part of the story around which everything else evolves and develops. Upon returning to the mainland on one of their shore leaves they are shaken form their dream world on Janus to the reality that this child has a past that cannot be ignored or avoided.

As the plot develops, the story is shown from the viewpoint of everyone concerned with the life of the young child. Stedman shows the feelings of everyone well and it is easy to have sympathy for all the main characters. However, it is obvious that things cannot turn out well for everyone. People get caught between what they want and what is morally right. Love and guilt collide as the story moves towards its end.

As I previously mentioned, the ending was not predictable. Even up to the last couple of chapters the story could have gone in a number of directions. Ultimately, someone had to lose, but even for those who did, there was some redemption as the story came to its conclusion.

This book is released at the end of the month and I would highly recommend it. It raises a number of questions about doing the morally right thing, even if it may initially hurt the ones you love. I can see this being a good book club choice, because the questions raised could give many different answers. I look forward to M.L. Stedman's next offering with great anticipation, because The Light Between Oceans is a magnificent start.

[Artemis]

Really enjoyed the way story unfolded. Definitely a recommended read!