The Light Between Oceans
A Novel
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4.5 • 438 Ratings
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
The spectacular New York Times bestseller and major motion picture about a lighthouse keeper and his wife is "a beautifully delineated tale of love and loss, right and wrong, and what we will do for the happiness of those most dear" (The Boston Globe).
After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes 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, 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, who keeps meticulous records and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel insists the baby is a “gift from God,” and 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Buzz is building for this impressive debut, and it’s easy to see why it’s being mentioned for awards and a movie adaptation. While there’s no denying it’s a sad book, its beautifully crafted characters and storyline shouldn’t be missed. It opens as Tom returns home from World War I and takes a job as a lighthouse keeper on a remote island. There, his bond with his wife flourishes even as they struggle to conceive and long to have a child. So when they discover a washed-up boat carrying a dead man and a screaming infant, they take in the child as their own. Years later, that choice has devastating consequences, and this captivating read builds to a crescendo that insightfully looks at the gray areas of right and wrong in making decisions.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Stedman's deftly crafted debut, Tom Sherbourne, seeking constancy after the horrors of WWI, takes a lighthouse keeper's post on an Australian island, and calls for Isabel, a young woman he met on his travels, to join him there as his wife. In peaceful isolation, their love grows. But four years on the island and several miscarriages bring Isabel's seemingly boundless spirit to the brink, and leave Tom feeling helpless until a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a living child. Isabel convinces herself and Tom that the baby is a gift from God. After two years of maternal bliss for Isabel and alternating waves of joy and guilt for Tom, the family, back on the mainland, is confronted with the mother of their child, very much alive. Stedman grounds what could be a far-fetched premise, setting the stage beautifully to allow for a heart-wrenching moral dilemma to play out, making evident that "Right and wrong can be like bloody snakes: so tangled up that you can't tell which is which until you've shot 'em both, and then it's too late." Most impressive is the subtle yet profound maturation of Isabel and Tom as characters.
Customer Reviews
The light between oceans
A very heartwarming story that reaches deep into your feelings and intuition
Must read!
Amazingly told story. I often wonder what I would have done in that situation.
The Light from Oceans
A most amazing story of love loss, betrayal and redemption; beautifully written as to bring vivid images to the mind. So hard to put down!