Light Between Oceans

Irresistible ...keeps you riveted from the first page' Oprah Magazine. 'What an extraordinary book ...as inevitable as Hardy at his most doom-laden. And as unforgettable' Guardian. 'Persuasive and tender' Sunday Times. 'The Light Between Oceans stays with you long after you have turned the last page. It is not only the plot that is so compelling, though it packs a punch from the outset. What makes this wonderful novel stand out from the crowd is the cast of emotionally fragile characters, all of whom inspire tremendous sympathy with the reader' Daily Express. 'Mesmerising ...the sheer passion and poetry of Stedman's prose carries us on a wave of emotion and heartbreak' Women's Weekly. Pick of the month: 'The memorable and moving tale of one couple's search for happiness' Woman and Home. A book which has a believable plot, beautiful writing and is ultimately a book you simply can't put down' Hello Magazine. 'A completely unique read. **** " Heat Magazine. Book of the Week. 'Critics are buzzing about The Light Between Oceans, the gripping debut from M L Stedman' Grazia. 'A moving tale. One of this year's must-reads' Stylist. "Prepare to weep' New York Times. 'M L Stedman, a spectacularly sure storyteller ...a total-immersion experience, extraordinarily moving' MONICA ALI , author of Brick Lane. 'The Light Between Oceans unfurls in small acts, at first feeling slight to touch, then building in emotional substance. Into the spaces between words, Stedman breathes an anxiety and pulsating intensity that roils with the ocean and the lighthouse beacon' Sydney Morning Herald. Tom Sherbourne, released from the horrors of the First World War, is now a lighthouse keeper, cocooned on a remote island with his young wife Izzy, who is content in everything but her failure to have a child. One April morning, a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man - and a crying baby. Safe from the real world, Tom and Izzy break the rules and follow their hearts. It is a decision with devastating consequences.

Amazon Best Books of the Month, August 2012: 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