The Light Between Oceans Book Review. (Book Club May 2020)

Book Description.

After four years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock. Janus Rock is a completely isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season.

Tom brings a young wife, Isabel to the island. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, a boat washes up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, 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. They 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 impacted others…

My Review.

What a story. Full of love and devastation.
A book where the whole way through, it seems there’s no chance for a happy ending for any of the characters…but can they make it to a peaceful ending at least? … in the end, everyone lives bleakly ever after??… perhaps Lucy Grace is happy at the end??

I didn’t really like any of the characters, except Lucy Grace, Hannah (Lucy’s birth mother) and Lucy Grace’s grandfather.

I see Tom gave into his wife’s wants and ended up loving Lucy… and his past (of course) influences his decisions. Yes, I see Isabel’s heartbreak and perhaps mental health issues with losing her own children and living such a sheltered, life of solitude influencing her decisions…

Yes, yes, people are complicated, life is tough, scars cut deep, but IT’S NOT THAT HARD TO CALL THE AUTHORITIES IF YOU FOUND A BABY!

I just can’t forgive Tom and Isabel… I just cant! and I just don’t like Isabel.

This book was beautifully written, I’m very glad I read it. I was just frustrated the whole way through with the decisions made. I still do recommend you read The Light Between Oceans, see for yourself what you think of the characters and their decisions. It is absolutely beautifully written. 💜

The Light Between Oceans was written by M. L. Stedman.

M.L. Stedeman was born and raised in Western Australia, and now lives in London. The Light Between Oceans is her first novel.

Quotes I Highlighted.

“Each night the air sang with the steady hum of the lantern as it turned, turned, turned; even-handed, not blaming the rocks, not fearing the waves: there for salvation if wanted.”