Book Review: The Light Between Oceans

So this is what it feels like to stay up late to read for fun again. I remember this but it's been a while. 

My summer break is 3 days old. So far I've created new year-long unit maps for both of my classes and written a completely new syllabus from scratch (something I haven't done in about 5 years). I've also finished the first book on my way-too-long-to-actually-manage-it summer reading list.

Buy It Here

I'll be honest: I put this book on my list mostly because it matches my house and would look pretty on a bookshelf. (Ironically I then read it on my Nook, so I still don't actually own a physical copy.)


So here's the basics from Amazon:
"Tom Sherbourne is a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, a tiny island a half day’s boat journey from the coast of Western Australia. When a baby washes up in a rowboat, he and his young wife Isabel decide to raise the child as their own. The baby seems like a gift from God, and the couple’s reasoning for keeping her seduces the reader into entering the waters of treacherous morality even as Tom--whose moral code withstood the horrors of World War I--begins to waver. M. L. Stedman’s vivid characters and gorgeous descriptions of the solitude of Janus Rock and of the unpredictable Australian frontier create a perfect backdrop for the tale of longing, loss, and the overwhelming love for a child that is The Light Between Oceans. --Malissa Kent"

Here's why I decided to pick it up:My sophomores just finished reading All Quiet on the Western Front (a book I hated when I was 15 but absolutely LOVE now) and I was looking for an easy transition into summer. The Light Between Oceans features a protagonist who is a WWI soldier navigating the difficult return to civilian life. Plus it sounded like a bit of a love story and a bit of a mystery and takes place in Australia, so that sounded cool.

What I didn't know:One of the main threads of the novel has to do with the loss of children, especially through miscarriage. Tom's wife Isabel suffers three increasingly traumatic miscarriages in a row and the book explores the effect of such devastation on her before she finally has a child to call her own. My own miscarriage experience last August has made me identify with stories like this in ways I never could before. While my experience was not physically traumatic and I am now experiencing what seems like it will be a healthy, successful pregnancy, it's hard to explain the scar that miscarriage leaves on your psyche. It's always easier to like a book when you can see yourself in one of the characters, so Isabel hooked me.Why I recommend it:
There's enough intrigue and suspense to keep you turning the pages, the characters are well-formed and believable, and you can't help wondering what you would do if you were in the same situation. The last 100+ pages were all read in one swing that happened when I was planning to read for 15 minutes before bed and instead stayed up an additional several hours because I kept saying to myself, "Well, alright, just a little more..." and around 2 am that turned into, "Well, alright, I'm so close to the end now it just seems silly to stop..." Most of my favorite books have ended that way.

Who should read it:
- People who appreciate poetic writing and an author who can craft a beautiful phrase.
- People who wondered what might have happened to Paul after AQWF (if, ya know, he hadn't died).
- People who like a little suspense and a little crime and a little "but how?" in their reading but aren't looking for a thriller or a full-on mystery novel
- Pretty much anyone I talk to in the next few months, who will all be getting this recommendation from me. 
- Anyone who might be tempted to see the movie version that is supposedly coming out this year. Michael Fassbender (young Magneto) is playing Tom, so I'll definitely be there. (Side note: the Tom in my head was not that sexy by a long shot...) It's a Disney/Dreamworks production and the few shots I've seen of filming make it look like a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, but I promise it's more inspiration and less devastation than that.

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

“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

“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

“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

“Elegantly rendered…heart-wrenching…the relationship between Tom and Isabel, in particular, is beautifully drawn.” (Elysa Gardner USA Today)

“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.” (Karen Brooks, author of Illumination)