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.
M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss.
The Light Between Oceans is exquisite and unforgettable, a deeply moving novel.
- Genre: Contemporary romance, Drama
- Age: Adult
- Source: owned paperback
- Read from May 05 to 08, 2013
FINAL RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★
“...or I can forgive and forget...Oh, but my treasure, it is so much less exhausting. You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day. You have to keep remembering all the bad things...we always have a choice.”
One word: Beautiful. And also beautiful. and beautiful. and beautiful....I cannot even begin the review properly. This book crushed my feelings, brought them back together and did it all over and over again. I smiled and i cried. But it was worth it.
The writing style was beautiful. It followed multiply POVs and without them, this story wouldn't have such an impact on me. Everyone in this story is important. Everyone.
The story happens in Australia... And by reading this i kind of fell in love with it ;D (i did before as well, but now, even more).
And it was just wonderful and i loved it to bits.
This is a story of forgiveness. Of making difference between right and wrong. Learning from your mistakes.
But it is also a story of a couple. Two people who met one day and fell in love. Tom and Isabel.
“It’s like a whole… a whole galaxy waiting for you to find out about. And I want to find out about yours.”
Tom returned from the war to Australia... He
decided the best way to live his life would be to be a lighthouse
keeper. But then he met Isabel and all things changed.
“So marry me!”
He blinked. “Izz—I hardly know you! And besides, I’ve never even—well, I’ve never even kissed you, for crying out loud.”
“At long last!” She spoke as if the solution were blindingly obvious, and she stood on tiptoes to pull his head down toward her. Before he knew what was happening he was being kissed, inexpertly but with great force. He pulled away from her.
“That’s a dangerous game to play, Isabel. You shouldn’t go running around kissing blokes out of the blue. Not unless you mean it.”
“But I do mean it!”
Tom looked at her, her eyes challenging him, her petite chin set firm. Once he crossed that line, who knew where he would end up? Oh, bugger it. To hell with good behavior. To hell with doing the right thing. Here was a beautiful girl, begging to be kissed, and the sun was gone and the weeks were up and he’d be out in the middle of bloody nowhere this time tomorrow. He took her face in his hands and bent low as he said, “Then this is how you do it,” and kissed her slowly, letting time fade away. And he couldn’t remember any other kiss that felt quite the same.
They married. And they wanted children. Lots and
lots of children. But... fate had other plans. Isabel miscarried three
times. They were growing desperate. Until the day when the boat came
near the shore. With a dead man and a crying baby.
Isabel and Tom
are surprised... and they take the baby to raise is as their own. No
one knew Iz miscarried third child...so they said she gave birth to the
baby.
Dear Mum and Dad,
Well, God has sent us an angel to keep us company. Baby Lucy has captured our hearts! She’s a beautiful little girl—absolutely perfect. She sleeps well and feeds well. She’s never any trouble.
But Guilt is slowly eating Tom up.... What if the mother of the little girl is still alive? How does she feel? But he can't help it... he became a father... And Isabel has never been happier....
And then.... things go horribly wrong.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The characters of this book are faced with so many choices...and mistakes.
One will do anything for the one he loves.
One will betray them.
One will be their friend till the end.
One will face "betrayal" and want revenge.
Some
i utterly and totally loved. Some i hated with passion. For some i felt
sad and in some i was disappointed. But...i understood everyone.
And the end of the book.... beautiful :D
(i noticed i used too much the word "beautiful", but i just can't help it :D)
OVERALL :
I loved it... i will remember it for a long time and i highly recommend it. Its a beautiful love story... story of loss and gain, pain and forgiveness, regret and mistakes. Story about a husband who only wanted to make his wife shine like she did before... Until the moment when everything went wrong.
Beautiful book.
“There are still more days to travel in this life. And he knows that the man who makes the journey has been shaped by every day and every person along the way. Scars are just another kind of memory....Soon enough the days will close over their lives, the grass will grow over their graves, until their story is just an unvisited headstone.”
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| edition i own of this book :D |
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