The Lamplighters
A Novel
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3.6 • 13 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Inspired by a
haunting true story, a gorgeous and atmospheric novel about the mysterious
disappearance of three lighthouse keepers from a remote tower miles from the
Cornish coast—and
about the wives left behind
On New Year’s
Eve, 1972, a boat pulls up to the Maiden Rock lighthouse with relief for the
keepers. But no one greets the boat. When the entrance door, locked from the
inside, is battered down, rescuers find an empty tower. A table is laid for a
meal not eaten. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a storm raging
round the tower, but the skies have been clear all week. And the clocks have
all stopped at 8:45.
What strange fate
befell the doomed men? The heavy sea whispers their names. Black rocks roll
beneath the surface, drowning ghosts. And out of the swell like a finger of
light, the salt-scratched tower stands lonely and magnificent.
Two decades
later, a writer determined to find out the truth about the men’s disappearance
visits the wives who were left behind. Moving between the women’s stories and
the men’s last weeks together in the lighthouse, we see long-held secrets
surface and truths twist into lies as we try to piece together what happened,
why and who to believe.
In her riveting and suspenseful novel, Emma Stonex writes a story about
isolation and obsession, reality and illusion, and what it takes to keep the
light burning when all else is swallowed by darkness.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British author Stonex's spectacular debut wraps a haunting mystery in precise, starkly beautiful prose. In 1972, a boatman arrives at the desolate Maiden Rock lighthouse off the coast of Mortehaven, Cornwall, to pick up one of its three keepers for a scheduled break. Instead, he finds the trio—principal keeper Arthur Black; Black's junior, Bill Walker; and third-in-command Vincent Bourne—gone. The tower is locked from the inside, the log chronicles strange storms that never happened, and the clocks are stopped at 8:45. Twenty years later, a writer determined to crack the unsolved mystery contacts the women the lighthouse keepers left behind. Now living in Bath, Helen Black returns to Mortehaven twice a year to commemorate her husband. She writes regularly to Bill's wife, Jenny, hoping to be forgiven for Bill's onetime obsession with her, but Jenny discards the letters in anger. Now in a troubled marriage, Vince's former girlfriend, Michelle Davies, is sure that he played no role in the disappearance, despite his earlier brushes with the law. Seamlessly marrying quotidian detail with ghostly touches, the author captures both the lighthouse's lure and the damage its isolation and confinement wreak on minds and families. The convincing resolution brings a welcome note of healing. Readers will eagerly await Stonex's next.
Customer Reviews
The lamplighters
A refreshing intriguing story based on a true event. I really enjoyed this book.
Unsolved mystery
It was a good historical fiction novel. Not overly exciting and fell down in the ending.