The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

“You don’t think ahead in years or months: you think about this hour, and maybe the next. Anything else is speculation.” 

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 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. 

M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss. 

The Light Between Oceans is exquisite and unforgettable, a deeply moving novel.

I thought this was a good book, but not great, which is a shame because the blurb on the back cover held such promise with a juicy plot line. The characters were good, but the plot needed to move faster to keep me engaged with what was happening. At around 80% things looked like they were going to pick up, but then all of a sudden everything was resolved and worked out. 

The writer was very descriptive with their language and dialogue, but almost boringly so. I was surprised I actually finished it, but to be fair I did skim read the last couple of pages.