Review: The Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found this book to be just okay. I really had a hard time connecting to the characters even in the general sense of likability.

This book follows Tom, a lighthouse keeper on a small island a couple of miles from the coast off the Australian mainland during the 1920's. Tom, like anyone else who has previously taken this position, is cut off from civilization and only can get supplies every 3 months or so. It is quite a lonely and isolating job that last three years at a time. As Tom is war veteran, he finds the isolation peaceful and finds that he can live a good life on this island.

During one of his stays on the mainland, he courts and marries a young woman names Isabel who wants nothing more than to settle down and have a baby. After several miscarriages and other troubles, a boat washes onshore with two passengers, a deceased man and a baby. Isabel, believing this to be a gift from above, convinces Tom that they should keep the baby and raise it as their own.

This is a very emotional read and I knew that going in. I wanted to read this mainly because of the movie having just come out. This book basically follows the theme of how good people can make terrible decisions and how those decisions can disrupt and destroy. I really found the character of Isabel to be so unlikable. I also found Tom to be very much a pushover. The only redeemable quality of this book really was the beautiful descriptions of the setting and the time period.

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