The years-long New York Times bestseller soon to be a major motion picture from Spielberg’s Dreamworks that is “irresistible…seductive…with a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page” (O, The Oprah Magazine).
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 … 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.
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Both this book and the film passed me by when they first came out but now I’m so glad I’ve finally caught up! This is a heart-rending story, in a beautiful and unique setting. The hero, Tom Sherbourne, is suffering PTSD after the first world war. His new job as lighthouse-keeper – in a wild, remote setting – suits him down to the ground. He …
This is a beautiful book – the language and images take the reader to the remote coast of Australia after World War I. It is the story of a lighthouse keeper, his wife and a baby who drifts to their remote tiny island in a small boat. I won’t give any more of the story, but read this book with a handkerchief handy. An excellent read.
A book way out of my normal reading circle – I was very hesitant to read this after reading another story recommended to me: All the light we can not see (would not read this one).
The characters really grabbed me and how people fall in to situations out of there control and how you live with them.
Very realistic book and how life can turn …
I recently finished this book. It was a gripping story of love and loss, great read. Although a little slow to start, it was only due to the very detailed descriptions of how the characters came to be who they were and how they met. Once their life together began the tale of their life together began to unravel. I can’t wait to see the movie!
I love this bitter sweet story that deals with love and doing the right thing.
This is an amazing story about a lighthouse keeper’s wife who, after struggling for years to bear a child, insists on keeping a baby that is washed up ashore one day. It is also a story about the husband with a complicated past who loves his wife so much that he will do anything to make her happy. M.L. Stedman did such a great job in bringing …
The lighthouse keeper and his wife. I highly recommend reading this book! It’s a beautifully written heartbreaking story. It’s a story of loss, determination, joy, fear of discovery, regret, and forgiveness …it pretty much has it all. The consequences of their decision has ever lasting effects for all involved. I was sucked into their world and …
This is not a feel-good story but an honest one about what happens when ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances make the wrong choices. I first saw the movie and then read the book. The book is better in my humble opinion though the acting in the film is memorable.
It took me forever, to finish this book because of my schedule, but this book did not go as I expected. This book gave me a book hungover, it stayed with me for a while. Stedman, filled my heart then broke it into a million pieces. The Light Between Oceans, is a beautiful read; with high regards I recommend this book!
I have not seen the movie, and seldom do. Too bad the book cover featured is the “movie” edition. I read a used hardcover.
Another wondrous debut novel! These authors are such a treasure. Sometimes I think the best books to read are only the debut novels. You can feel the artistry and the heart in these first-timers.
This book begins after the …
This book was so beautifully written. You experience thecharacters’ moral dilemma as you read along. I’ve recommended this book to several friends because I enjoyed it so much.
I loved this book. I literally was transported to Janus Rock and saw the world through the eyes of a child and her parents. My heart broke when Lucy was taken away and I knew I was going to hate the way the book ended. I’m so glad I was wrong. The story is amazing. I still feel the joy that turned into heartbreak when a man no longer can allow a …
Could not wait to wake-up in the morning and continue reading this book.
Nothing escapes the watchful eye of the lighthouse on Janus Island. Its powerful beam pierces the darkest night, the thickest fog, to warn and avert danger. Yet sometimes things go awry. A young mother is losing her mind from inconsolable grief; a father risked it all and lost; another mother, broken with despair, receives a new lease on …
I loved this story. Love and devotion.
A beautiful and challenging story that explores morality, shades of gray, loss, and love so strong that it makes people do almost unimaginable things. Very well written, and allows you to see the wrong in a situation while also feeling for everyone making those choices.
Very articulate and easy to read.
I really enjoyed this book and thought it was well written. That said I found the first half (on the island) more engaging and certainly more convincing than the second.
The depiction of the island, the lighthouse and the isolated but happy life of the lighthouse keeper there was very evocative – as was the portrait of the town with its missing …
I thoroughly enjoyed the stiry, chsractets, everything about this book.
It is one of those stories, that get told over and over again, in a different location, with different characters, with different actions and events that might lead up to it. But nevertheless is the same story. A secret you want to take to your grave, however guilt ridden you’re by your actions and claiming something that is not yours, some with a …