The Light Between Oceans, by ML Stedman
This is a review of the book The Light Between Oceans, the haunting debut novel by ML Stedman.
The main thing that struck me about this book was the emphasis on choices, and the ramifications they can have. Every choice made in the book was realistic, believable and understandable, yet in some cases horrific in what they meant for others. The tagline, “a story of right and wrong, and how sometimes they look the same”, absolutely captures the essence of the book.
Without giving too much away, the story centres around Tom and Isabel Sherbourne, who maintain the lighthouse on a remote Western Australian island in 1926. One day a boat washes onshore, carrying a dead man and a crying baby, no older than two or three months. The Sherbournes, still reeling from two miscarriages and the stillbirth of a son just two weeks prior to the event, decide not to report the incident, instead burying the man and raising the child as their own. Things come to a head, though, when they discover that the mother is still alive and searching for her missing husband and daughter.
As a mother myself, I could totally understand the decision to keep the baby, especially when it seemed she had no family of her own. Equally, I can understand the birth mother’s determination to find her family no matter what. Some of the choices the characters make in this story are unbearable and would be unconscionable under any other circumstances, yet, heart-wrenching as they are, they are also logical for the situation and within character for the people concerned.
Finally, the emotion that so charges the situation was palpable. I could feel each character’s hopes and fears, and what drew them. I was reduced to tears at the end (perhaps not a huge sign, as I cry at everything. To quote The Simpsons, my husband tells me that I cry when I do long division and have a remainder left over) as these people faced to an outcome that was ideal for no one yet had to be acceptable for everyone. This was a compromise that affected people’s lives to the core.
There were some parts of the novel that didn’t quite sit right with me, though. I was puzzled at the occasional use of present tense, as it seemed to serve no purpose and instead just distracted me from the story. In addition, there were large swathes of back story at the start that I felt might have been better incorporated in another way, so the reader didn’t feel fatigued by the weight of information. All in all, though, I thought this was an incredible book, and I am totally unsurprised that it is being released into so many markets, and there is talk of a film option. If any debut novel deserves that treatment, it’s this one.
———-
The Light Between Oceans, by ML Stedman
Published by Random House Australia & various international publishers
362 pages (paperback)
Available from Amazon.com as ebook or hardcover, or Booktopia (Australia) as paperback
Wow, talk about a killer tagline: “a story of right and wrong, and how sometimes they look the same.”
That “tagged” me straight up. I’m checking this out. Thanks for your review!
Awesome! It really is an amazing book. You won’t be disappointed.
Starting to see this book being talked about, interesting it was rejected in Australia and picked up internationally, the author deserves success.
Yes, there is getting to be a bit of hype about it, isn’t there? When you read it it’s not hard to work out why. I hope you decide to check it out.
Sounds like an amazing book. I will try and read it.
Definitely do, I thoroughly recommend it. It’s well worth it. Thanks for commenting!
Hi Emily, I’ve just found your blog courtesy of the Australian Best Blogs hashtag. Your blog is fabulous! I’ve subscribed via my reader. I’m a newish blogger who is also competing. I blog about the writing life at http://destinationdenouement.blogspot.com.au/. Best of luck in the competition, you have a strong entry here.
AW, thank you! I’m really touched that you like my blog so much. Good luck with the challenge, and I’ll head over to your page right now to check it out.
Hi Emily
Thanks for your review & your participation in the Australian Women Writers Challenge. This book has a premise that really appeals to me. It’s interesting what Claire says about the book being rejected here in Australia, but being picked up internationally, too.
(Laughed out loud at your husband’s comments, by the way. Sometimes even ads on TV can make me cry – but a remainder left over? Yeah, definitely!)
Yes, I was interested by that revelation about being rejected in Australia too, especially as the book seems to have been released here before anywhere else. I might have to read up on that to see what happened.
Seriously, though, I can’t recommend this book enough. Definitely go and check it out. You won’t regret it.
I’ve heard that this is indeed a great, compelling novel; all the more remarkable for a first one. Thanks for your very informative review.
And thank you for dropping by to read it! I’m glad you found my review to be of some use; that means that I must be doing something right. I tried to say as much as I could without giving away too many spoilers, because I know what it’s like to know what happens before you read the book. It is indeed a compelling novel, and one that stays with you long after you finish it. If you get a chance to read it, I hope you enjoy it.
I loved this book. Our book group will be discussing it in Nov. Are there any discussion questions available?
Good question! I’ll pop an email through to the publishers to see if there are any they recommend.