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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This is the story of Tom and Isabel Sherbourne who live in Australia. Tom returns from the war and meets Isabel. They fall in love and get married. Tom has decided to take a job as a lighthouse keeper on the island of Janus Rock, and Isabel agrees to go with him. They try desperately to have children but Isabel suffers two miscarriages and a …
A story I won’t forget.
This is one of my favorite books. You can relate to the characters and you are reminded of the consequences of your actions. I found myself thinking about the characters long after I finished reading. It was haunting and heart wrenching and it will stay with you.
Great for book club discussions; very thought provoking
A heartbreaking but genuine testimonial of what a one does for the person they love. This was a beautiful book.
Wow, how does this happen. Crazy, desperate and heart breaking.
What a wonderful story. It brings out so many emotions just like a good story should. Tom is a lighthouse keeper on a very remote island. His wife Izzy has had 3 miscarriages and is very depressed and despondent. Then a small boat washes up on their island. Inside there is a man and a baby. This is where Tom and Izzy have some decisions to make …
I feel like I’ve been to Australia. I have much respect for lighthouse keepers. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and this book was worth the read.
This is one of those books that you read and it stays with you for a long time. I loved it. Most certainly an author I will read again.
This was an excellent book with well-formed characters and an unusual plot. I really liked it!
Has it all! One of my favorites to recommend! Great all around! Read twice! Audio once!!
An emotional roller-coaster from start to finish! A great story of love and loss and the powerful bonds of relationships.
This story is hearache, tragedy, and the raw hiuman condition beautifully told.
I am passionate about lighthouses and all that they represent, even writing a graduate paper about them in America, so when I learned that this story involves a lighthouse keeper, his wife, their life at the lighthouse station, and seeing as this was a Goodreads winner, I decided to read this Stedman debut. This is a difficult review to write, …
A story about how our decisions today will impact not only us, but others and even on to other generations…..a man who lives and cares for a light house off the coast of Australia, a young carefree and happy girl, their love, their marriage, the decision, the cost….I couldn’t put this book down.
This was an emotional gut wrenching read. I felt all the emotions and decisions felt by the characters. When it was over I sobbed for all of them and what I had experienced. I had not had this reaction from any other book in decades.
A very powerful read.
I loved this book! I identified with the characters and their decisions-good and bad. I stayed up late several nights reading “just one more chapter.” Tear jerker story of loss, love, sacrifice, and moral dilemmas.
Just made me sad…a heart breaking read
Wonderful story, great characters also explores things that happen when we make wrong decisions.
Vivid characters in heartbreaking circumstances. Suspenseful and real… and beautiful.