I love to read. I always have at least one book I'm reading and will often read while I blow-dry my hair, work out at the gym, or wait for sleep to over take me. I was an English major in college and have always loved literature for the way it can transform the way I think for a moment or, sometimes, forever. My taste in books ranges from short and sweet romances to nitty, gritty classics and informational non-fiction. I'm not snooty about what I deem worthwhile, my only requirements for a good book are that it adds value to my life in some way or another and that I can't wait to get a chance to finish it.
Each Wednesday, I'd love to share one of my favorites with you! This week it is, The Light Between Oceans.
This is a newer book and a fantastic read. The writing and setting are peaceful and melodic but the story is addictive and clever. I loved the characters, crafted so carefully between good and evil that you hardly know who to root for. The ending was masterful. This would be a wonderful book club book full of positions and beliefs to discuss and delve into. The book was clean and I would recommend it to anyone.
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.
Labels: books
