The Light Between Oceans: A Novel

by M. L. Stedman Narrated by Noah Taylor

Overview

The spectacular New York Times bestseller and major motion picture about a lighthouse keeper and his wife is "a beautifully delineated tale of love and loss, right and wrong, and what we will do for the happiness of those most dear" (The Boston Globe).

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, 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.

Editorial Reviews

AUGUST 2012 - AudioFile

After the grim reality of WWI, Tom Sherbourne signs on with the Australian Lighthouse Service, enjoying the uncomplicated solitude of isolated Janus Rock. Narrator Noah Taylor sounds appropriately depressed and low-key as Tom reveals details of his life. Listeners will grow to like this orderly man who takes comfort in sameness. Tom marries Isabel, and they’re happy until Isabel suffers a series of miscarriages. When a boat drifts ashore carrying a dead man and a live infant, Tom and Isabel decide to raise the baby as their own. Taylor does well with the dialogue and character development in Stedman’s intriguing debut novel. The author’s polished storytelling poses a heart-wrenching moral dilemma for the couple, and Taylor’s narration adds color to the otherwise bleak landscape. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

If Tom Sherbourne had wanted tranquility, he seemed to have found the perfect place on Australia's Janus Rock. As lighthouse keeper on this remote island, he and his young wife Isabel had found a home where he could free himself from the painful memories of four hellish years on World War I's western front. As he healed, there was one new cause of great frustration though; after his wife's two miscarriages and a stillbirth, their dreams of a family appeared to have dissolved. That changed, however, when a small boat washed ashore carrying a corpse and a living baby. With that shipwreck discovery, decisions must be made that will radically change several lives. An artfully written debut novel not soon to be forgotten; now in trade paperback and NOOK Book.

Karen Brooks

Sublimely written, poetic in its intensity and frailty…This is a simply beautiful story that deserves the praise and wide audience it’s receiving. A stunning debut from a new voice that I can’t wait to hear again.

The Boston Globe - Tova Beiser

A beautifully delineated tale of love and loss, right and wrong, and what we will do for the happiness of those most dear.

From the Publisher

An extraordinary and heart-rending book about good people, tragic decisions and the beauty found in each of them.”—Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief

“M.L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans is a beautiful novel about isolation and courage in the face of enormous loss. It gets into your heart stealthily, until you stop hoping the characters will make different choices and find you can only watch, transfixed, as every conceivable choice becomes an impossible one. I couldn’t look away from the page and then I couldn’t see it, through tears. It’s a stunning debut.”—Maile Meloy, author of Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It

“M.L. Stedman, a spectacularly sure storyteller, swept me to a remote island nearly a century ago, where a lighthouse keeper and his wife make a choice that shatters many lives, including their own. This is a novel in which justice for one character means another’s tragic loss, and we care desperately for both. Reading The Light Between Oceans is a total-immersion experience, extraordinarily moving.”—Monica Ali, author of Brick Lane and Untold Story

"Irresistible...seductive...a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page."—Sara Nelson, O, the Oprah magazine

“Haunting...Stedman draws the reader into her emotionally complex story right from the beginning, with lush descriptions of this savage and beautiful landscape, and vivid characters with whom we can readily empathize. Hers is a stunning and memorable debut.”—Booklist, starred review

“[Stedman sets] 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.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“The miraculous arrival of a child in the life of a barren couple delivers profound love but also the seeds of destruction. Moral dilemmas don’t come more exquisite than the one around which Australian novelist Stedman constructs her debut.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“This heartbreaking debut from M L Stedman is a gem of a book that you'll have trouble putting down”—Good Housekeeping

“This fine, suspenseful debut explores desperation, morality, and loss, and considers the damaging ways in which we store our private sorrows, and the consequences of such terrible secrets.”—Martha Stewart Whole Living

“As time passes the harder the decision becomes to undo and the more towering is its impact. This is the story of its terrible consequences. But it is also a description of the extraordinary, sustaining power of a marriage to bind two people together in love, through the most emotionally harrowing circumstances.”—Victoria Moore, The Daily Mail

“A love story that is both persuasive and tender…”—Elizabeth Buchan, The Sunday Times (UK)

“What an extraordinary book this is. Tom, traumatised on the western front, takes a job as lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, 100 miles off the Australian coast between the Indian and Southern oceans, where he hopes that the vast surrounding emptiness will bring him peace. When after three years and as many miscarriages his wife hears a baby's cry and discovers a dead man and a baby in a washed up dinghy, she feels her prayers have been answered. The ensuing tragedy is as inevitable as Hardy at his most doom-laden. And as unforgettable.”—Sue Arnold, Guardian

People

Lyrical…Stedman’s debut signals a career certain to deliver future treasures.

USA Today - Elysa Gardner

Elegantly rendered…heart-wrenching…the relationship between Tom and Isabel, in particular, is beautifully drawn.

The New Yorker

Told with the authoritative simplicity of a fable…Stedman’s intricate descriptions of the craggy Australian coastline and her easy mastery of an old-time provincial vernacular are engrossing. As the couple at the lighthouse are drawn into and increasingly tragic set of consequences, these remote, strange lives are rendered immediate and familiar.

The New Yorker

Told with the authoritative simplicity of a fable…Stedman’s intricate descriptions of the craggy Australian coastline and her easy mastery of an old-time provincial vernacular are engrossing. As the couple at the lighthouse are drawn into and increasingly tragic set of consequences, these remote, strange lives are rendered immediate and familiar.

Library Journal

In Stedman's compelling, heartrending debut novel—infused with the symbol of the lighthouse as guidance and shelter—quiet, thoughtful Tom returns home to Australia after World War I and seeks refuge as a lighthouse keeper. Isabelle, a high-spirited young woman who is ruled by emotion, works her way into Tom's heart and joins him at his remote outpost. Although they yearn for a family, after three years and three lost babies, the light in Izzy's eyes has dimmed. Then, inexplicably, a small boat washes ashore, bearing a dead man and a tiny but healthy infant. Is this the answer to Tom and Izzy's fervent prayers? They must quickly choose whether to keep the baby as their own or to report it to the authorities. Years later, in another, faraway lighthouse, the story circles around to a satisfying conclusion. VERDICT Stedman's engrossing, emotionally driven novel sensitively treats the issue of loss and how we learn to live with its aftermath. Fans of Anita Shreve or Elizabeth Berg will enjoy being swept up in this novel. [See Prepub Alert, 2/20/12.]—Susanne Wells, MLS, Indianapolis

AUGUST 2012 - AudioFile

After the grim reality of WWI, Tom Sherbourne signs on with the Australian Lighthouse Service, enjoying the uncomplicated solitude of isolated Janus Rock. Narrator Noah Taylor sounds appropriately depressed and low-key as Tom reveals details of his life. Listeners will grow to like this orderly man who takes comfort in sameness. Tom marries Isabel, and they’re happy until Isabel suffers a series of miscarriages. When a boat drifts ashore carrying a dead man and a live infant, Tom and Isabel decide to raise the baby as their own. Taylor does well with the dialogue and character development in Stedman’s intriguing debut novel. The author’s polished storytelling poses a heart-wrenching moral dilemma for the couple, and Taylor’s narration adds color to the otherwise bleak landscape. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

The miraculous arrival of a child in the life of a barren couple delivers profound love but also the seeds of destruction. Moral dilemmas don't come more exquisite than the one around which Australian novelist Stedman constructs her debut. Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia emotionally scarred after distinguished service in World War I, so the solitary work of a lighthouse keeper on remote Janus Rock is attractive. 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. Isabel wants to keep the child, which she sees as a gift from God; Tom wants to act correctly and tell the authorities. But Isabel's joy in the baby is so immense and the prospect of giving her up so destructive, that Tom gives way. 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. A polished, cleverly constructed and very precisely calculated first novel.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170974979
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	07/31/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Thousands of miles away on the west coast, Janus Rock was the furthest place on the continent from Tom’s childhood home in Sydney. But Janus Light was the last sign of Australia he had seen as his troopship steamed for Egypt in 1915. The smell of the eucalypts had wafted for miles offshore from Albany, and when the scent faded away he was suddenly sick at the loss of something he didn’t know he could miss. Then, hours later, true and steady, the light, with its five-second flash, came into view—his homeland’s furthest reach—and its memory stayed with him through the years of hell that followed, like a farewell kiss. When, in June 1920, he got news of an urgent vacancy going on Janus, it was as though the light there were calling to him.

Teetering on the edge of the continental shelf, Janus was not a popular posting. Though its Grade One hardship rating meant a slightly higher salary, the old hands said it wasn’t worth the money, which was meager all the same. The keeper Tom replaced on Janus was Trimble Docherty, who had caused a stir by reporting that his wife was signaling to passing ships by stringing up messages in the colored flags of the International Code. This was unsatisfactory to the authorities for two reasons: first, because the Deputy Director of Lighthouses had some years previously forbidden signaling by flags on Janus, as vessels put themselves at risk by sailing close enough to decipher them; and secondly, because the wife in question was recently deceased.

Considerable correspondence on the subject was generated in triplicate between Fremantle and Melbourne, with the Deputy Director in Fremantle putting the case for Docherty and his years of excellent service, to a Head Office concerned strictly with efficiency and cost and obeying the rules. A compromise was reached by which a temporary keeper would be engaged while Docherty was given six months’ medical leave.

“We wouldn’t normally send a single man to Janus—it’s pretty remote and a wife and family can be a great practical help, not just a comfort,” the District Officer had said to Tom. “But seeing it’s only temporary… You’ll leave for Partageuse in two days,” he said, and signed him up for six months.

There wasn’t much to organize. No one to farewell. Two days later, Tom walked up the gangplank of the boat, armed with a kit bag and not much else. The SS Prometheus worked its way along the southern shores of Australia, stopping at various ports on its run between Sydney and Perth. The few cabins reserved for first-class passengers were on the upper deck, toward the bow. In third class, Tom shared a cabin with an elderly sailor. “Been making this trip for fifty years—they wouldn’t have the cheek to ask me to pay. Bad luck, you know,” the man had said cheerfully, then returned his attention to the large bottle of over-proof rum that kept him occupied. To escape the alcohol fumes, Tom took to walking the deck during the day. Of an evening there’d usually be a card game belowdecks.

You could still tell at a glance who’d been over there and who’d sat the war out at home. You could smell it on a man. Each tended to keep to his own kind. Being in the bowels of the vessel brought back memories of the troopships that took them first to the Middle East, and later to France. Within moments of arriving on board, they’d deduced, almost by an animal sense, who was an officer, who was lower ranks; where they’d been.

Just like on the troopships, the focus was on finding a bit of sport to liven up the journey. The game settled on was familiar enough: first one to score a souvenir off a first-class passenger was the winner. Not just any souvenir, though. The designated article was a pair of ladies’ drawers. “Prize money’s doubled if she’s wearing them at the time.”

The ringleader, a man by the name of McGowan, with a mustache, and fingers yellowed from his Woodbines, said he’d been chatting to one of the stewards about the passenger list: the choice was limited. There were ten cabins in all. A lawyer and his wife—best give them a wide berth; some elderly couples, a pair of old spinsters (promising), but best of all, some toff’s daughter traveling on her own.

“I reckon we can climb up the side and in through her window,” he announced. “Who’s with me?”

The danger of the enterprise didn’t surprise Tom. He’d heard dozens of such tales since he got back. Men who’d taken to risking their lives on a whim—treating the boom gates at level crossings as a gallop jump; swimming into rips to see if they could get out. So many men who had dodged death over there now seemed addicted to its lure. Still, this lot were free agents now. Probably just full of talk.

The following night, when the nightmares were worse than usual, Tom decided to escape them by walking the decks. It was two a.m. He was free to wander wherever he wanted at that hour, so he paced methodically, watching the moonlight leave its wake on the water. He climbed to the upper deck, gripping the stair rail to counter the gentle rolling, and stood a moment at the top, taking in the freshness of the breeze and the steadiness of the stars that showered the night.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a glimmer come on in one of the cabins. Even first-class passengers had trouble sleeping sometimes, he mused. Then, some sixth sense awoke in him—that familiar, indefinable instinct for trouble. He moved silently toward the cabin, and looked in through the window.

In the dim light, he saw a woman flat against the wall, pinned there even though the man before her wasn’t touching her. He was an inch away from her face, with a leer Tom had seen too often. He recognized the man from belowdecks, and remembered the prize. Bloody idiots. He tried the door, and it opened.

“Leave her alone,” he said as he stepped into the cabin. He spoke calmly, but left no room for debate.

The man spun around to see who it was, and grinned when he recognized Tom. “Christ! Thought you were a steward! You can give me a hand, I was just—”

“I said leave her alone! Clear out. Now.”

“But I haven’t finished. I was just going to make her day.” He reeked of drink and stale tobacco.

Tom put a hand on his shoulder, with a grip so hard that the man cried out. He was a good six inches shorter than Tom, but tried to take a swing at him all the same. Tom seized his wrist and twisted it. “Name and rank!”

“McKenzie. Private. 3277.” The unrequested serial number followed like a reflex.

“Private, you’ll apologize to this young lady and you’ll get back to your bunk and you won’t show your face on deck until we berth, you understand me?”

“Yes, sir!” He turned to the woman. “Beg your pardon, Miss. Didn’t mean any harm.”

Still terrified, the woman gave the slightest nod.

“Now, out!” Tom said, and the man, deflated by sudden sobriety, shuffled from the cabin.

“You all right?” Tom asked the woman.

“I—I think so.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“He didn’t…”—she was saying it to herself as much as to him—“he didn’t actually touch me.”

He took in the woman’s face—her gray eyes seemed calmer now. Her dark hair was loose, in waves down to her arms, and her fists still gathered her nightgown to her neck. Tom reached for her dressing gown from a hook on the wall and draped it over her shoulders.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Must have got an awful fright. I’m afraid some of us aren’t used to civilized company these days.”

She didn’t speak.

“You won’t get any more trouble from him.” He righted a chair that had been overturned in the encounter. “Up to you whether you report him, Miss. I’d say he’s not the full quid now.”

Her eyes asked a question.

“Being over there changes a man. Right and wrong don’t look so different any more to some.” He turned to go, but put his head back through the doorway. “You’ve got every right to have him up on charges if you want. But I reckon he’s probably got enough troubles. Like I said—up to you,” and he disappeared through the door.

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