In The Light Between Oceans, a stoic, fiercely principled, rather solitary man, recently returned from serving in World War I, meets an effervescent young woman who desperately wants to be a mother ... She has just buried their dead child when another baby literally washes up on their shore, accompanied by her lifeless father ...is at once elegantly rendered and emotionally manipulative. Following the involved parties — including the baby girl, who grows into a precocious toddler — through a string of tormenting and sometimes predictable twists, you may suspect that the author practices heart-wrenching as a kind of craft ... The relationship between Tom and Isabel, in particular, is beautifully drawn ... By letting neither her readers nor her characters off the hook easily, Stedman creates a bond that makes her book tough to shake off.
The Light Between Oceans is a story about guilt, honesty, justice, and terrible secrets. And a good man’s inability to keep those secrets. Tom Sherbourne is driven by honor and duty, and he is willing to sacrifice himself for his wife’s choices ...story line vacillates like the tides; we float along with Tom and Isabel as they experience the euphoria and despair of each pregnancy and ensuing loss ...feeling swept away by the story, too-convenient plot twists jarred me back to my here-and-now ... Her writing is sound, if sometimes uninspiring, but every so often she throws out a gorgeous line that you have to stop and read twice to appreciate... First-time novelist Stedman did what all good writers should do: She got her readers emotionally invested in her story.
One well-meaning lie begets another so many times in The Light Between Oceans that right and wrong become hopelessly confused ... But for a shore leave that happens every two years and occasional supply boats, Tom and Isabel Sherbourne are utterly disconnected from the cloth of community life ... The Sherbournes deal with the kind of seclusion it should be difficult to imagine. But Stedman brings this couple and their lives nearly 100 years ago to life so vividly that it's as if you're walking the stairs of the lighthouse with them ... Following what happens is sort of like watching a particularly beautiful train wreck. You won't be able to stop reading all the way to the heartbreaking, ultimately satisfying conclusion.
Within the pages of this beautifully written page-turner, Tom Sherbourne has accepted a temporary position as lighthouse keeper on Australia's Janus Rock ... As they head inevitably toward marriage, Tom worries that Isabel might not love living on the wild and isolated island ... In the boat, they find a dead man and a live baby. Of course, Isabel embraces this event as a miracle ... The years roll by, and the three make a complete family. However, Tom's joy in little Lucy and in Isabel's contentment is terribly marred; he is plagued with regret that nibbles away at his very being ... a rare melding of lyrical prose and a truly gripping read, the kind that leads one to stay up all night in order to finish the book ...both heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful, with a pitch-perfect conclusion. This debut surely will be high not only on my list of all-time favorites, but also on countless 'Best Of' lists.
Moral dilemmas don’t come more exquisite than the one around which Australian novelist Stedman constructs her debut ... Unexpectedly, Tom finds a partner on the mainland, Isabel; they marry and hope to start a family. But Isabel suffers miscarriages then loses a premature baby. Two weeks after that last catastrophe, a dinghy washes ashore containing a man’s body and a crying infant ... Years later, on a rare visit to the mainland, the couple learns about Hannah Roennfeldt, who lost her husband and baby at sea. Now guilt eats away at Tom, and when the truth does emerge, he takes the blame, leading to more moral self-examination and a cliffhanging conclusion ...polished, cleverly constructed and very precisely calculated first novel.
In Stedman’s deftly crafted debut, Tom Sherbourne, seeking constancy after the horrors of WWI, takes a lighthouse keeper’s post on an Australian island, and calls for Isabel, a young woman he met on his travels, to join him there as his wife ... But four years on the island and several miscarriages bring Isabel’s seemingly boundless spirit to the brink, and leave Tom feeling helpless until a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a living child ... Most impressive is the subtle yet profound maturation of Isabel and Tom as characters. Stedman grounds what could be a far-fetched premise, setting the stage beautifully to allow for a heart-wrenching moral dilemma to play out... Most impressive is the subtle yet profound maturation of Isabel and Tom as characters.
