Review | The Light Between Oceans

Author: M.L. Stedman
Published: April 9, 2012
Publisher: Scribner
Pages: 343
Genres: Drama, Historical Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction
Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis
(from Goodreads)
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.

Review
If you like dramas, you'll probably get into this one. It's about a lighthouse keeper who marries a woman. They live on a small island out at sea. She tried to have children, but miscarries every time. One day a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a baby. This is when everything starts going wrong. Lies pile on lies and it becomes a good thing that they live on an island away from prying eyes.(Hey, that rhymes! I didn't even mean to.)

This is a very emotional book. I was constantly worried about actions and reactions and crying along with the characters, especially at the end. (And typically, I'm not a very emotional person, so prepare the tissues.)

Tom was one of my favorite characters. Tom loved Isabel very much and would do anything for her, and he does. He has a very strong sense of right and wrong, and for Isabel, he goes against his conscience and gives into her to make her happy.

As much as I can understand his decision, I kept thinking throughout the book that he shouldn't have done it in the first place. It was almost like being a lightkeeper was too important for him to be able to do the right thing. I think that if he had given up being a lightkeeper and gone to live on the mainland or found a lighthouse on the mainland that there would have been more options for them so that they wouldn't have resorted to criminal actions.

Lucy was my other favorite character. I felt so sorry for her that she had to go through everything that she did. The ending is a very tough decision made for her, but as hard as it was, I think it was the right one. She was the character that I felt the most sympathetic for. She was happy, healthy, smart, and cute, but even the families that appear normal from the outside have dark secrets.

The was a very emotional and captivating drama. If you like historical fiction and drama, you'll probably enjoy this one. What's nice about this story is that although it contains elements that are found in some other popular books, it's not really a genre or theme that's been done to death.


Book Club Discussion Questions

[Show Spoiler]
1. Which characters won your sympathy and why? Did this change over the course of the novel? Did your notion of what was best or right shift in the course of your reading?
At one point or another, all the main characters gained my sympathy. Isabel for her miscarriages, resulting mental instability, and for having Lucy taken away. Tom for going against what he thought was right and continually paying for it until it all blew up. Hannah for losing her husband and daughter and having to re-acclimate to having her daughter again. Lucy for being the subject of it all.

When Isabel convinced Tom to not call it in, I thought it was wrong. I know she wanted a child, but because of the miscarriages, she was mentally unstable. I feel like Tom valued his job more than his wife. He should have called it in, left the light, moved back to the mainland, gotten Isabel professional help, and adopt a child (since they couldn't adopt if they stayed at Janus). Not all light houses are on islands or far from towns. Couldn't he have found another one.

Later when they discovered the truth behind Lucy, I think Tom should have gone through with his thoughts and proceed with leaving the light like I mentioned above. At that point, they'd had Lucy for 2 years. Too long not to cause significant pain at her loss, but it would only get worse the longer it takes. Adopting another child could have helped soothe that loss.

Pretty much at ever opportunity for Lucy to go back to Hannah, I thought she should. I couldn't imagine having your child taken away and given back to their biological family, but Isabel shouldn't have kept Lucy in the first place.

2. Tom and Isabel’s deception impacts the lives of everyone around them. What did you think of the other characters’ reactions when they discover the truth about Lucy?
I thought their reactions were appropriate. I think Tom and Isabel were judged more harshly though because everyone was around Hannah more. Plus it seemed like a lot of people thought Isabel and Tom know about Lucy all along, which wasn't true. At least when Tom did find out, he tried to convince his wife to give Lucy back. He should have too, but I can understand not wanting to hurt his wife, but I feel like waiting the way they did and getting caught was more painful than if they had come forward and said it was a (somewhat) honest mistake.

4. What did you think of the conclusion of the novel? What emotions did you feel at the story’s end? Did it turn out as you expected? Were you satisfied?
I was bawling my eyes out during the last 10 pages.  It was really painful. I seem to be crying during books more lately. I don't know if I'm just changing and becoming emotional or if I've just never read any books (or seen anything else) as emotional.

It did turn out like I expected. All through the book, I figured they'd get caught and Lucy would go back to Hannah. I liked that Hannah offered to give Lucy back to Isabel, and I wish that Isabel and Tom could have remained in Lucy's life as and aunt and uncle or something. It was hard to see that they had to be permanently cut off.

I think one of the hardest things in the book besides then conclusion was when Isabel discovered she was going through early menopause. She'd lost 3 already. Lucy wasn't hers, and I figured they wouldn't be able to keep Lucy. So she wouldn't be able to try to have anymore children if they had been honest and given Lucy back.