The Light Between Oceans

A Novel

By: M. L. Stedman

Narrated by: Noah Taylor

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

A captivating, beautiful, and stunningly accomplished debut novel - the story of a lighthouse keeper and his wife who make one devastating choice that forever changes two worlds.

In 1918, after four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia to take a job as the lighthouse keeper on remote Janus Rock. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes only four times a year and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Three years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel is tending the grave of her newly lost infant when she hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up on shore 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 dead man and the infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim the child as their own and name her Lucy, but a rift begins to grow between them. When Lucy is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world…and one of them is desperate to find her lost baby.

M.L. Stedman’s extraordinarily compelling characters, still trying to make sense of life in the wake of so much death in the war, are imperfect people seeking to find their north star in a world of incomprehensible complexity.

©2012 Grasshill Communications. (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“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)

Good story, disappointed in audio performance

I had been wanted to read this book for a while now, but regret buying the audio book. I felt like I missed a third of the story because the reader trailed off at the end of sentences and at time mumbled through words. I've listened to many books with Australian or British accents, but never struggled to understand what they were saying as much as this book. While I liked the story overall, I can't help feeling I missed things in the audio version. Disappointing.

Spellbinding

This was a sad but heartwarming story. I had to keep listening. It. Delves into what people do and why.

Spellbinding

In no time at all you are hopelessly caught up in this story about choices.
Sometimes it might seem best to leave the past be, but for our main character he just couldn't get right with it. It 's a bit of a roller coaster but worth the ride. Keep the kleenex nearby for the end.

Beautifully written, heart-wrenching story

Any additional comments?

If you have children, or ever longed to have children but couldn't, it is likely this story will have a profound effect you. There are times that it takes excruciatingly painful turns and the despair or the characters is palpable. But so is the love between them. Beautifully written. Very good narration (I was surprised by the negative reviews). I will recommend this book to friends with the caveat that they keep a box of tissue nearby.

Tear jerker!

Wow! What a story! I switched back n' forth between the Kindle version and the audio. I found that it was sometimes difficult to understand the narrator and went to the Kindle version for clarity. However, the narrator gives a stellar performance.

Intense story that was hard to stop listening to

Where does The Light Between Oceans rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Well, I tend to compare everything to Outlander, but it does rank high. I am sure I will see the movie. I have recommended this book to friends.

What did you like best about this story?

The intensity of the emotion the characters had in the story. The struggle with wanting to make things right after finding out the truth.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes, but not able to. Found myself taking the long way home so I could listen while driving.

great story, poor narration

What made the experience of listening to The Light Between Oceans the most enjoyable?

loved the story

How could the performance have been better?

the narrator had inflections in his voice where he dropped words and vowels and droned on in parts. made it difficult to understand. he did not sound like he was interested in the book..

If you could take any character from The Light Between Oceans out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Tom - his honesty and high moral code, caring nature, and gentle sense of humor

Excellent Book

I enjoyed the book and it held my interest all the way through. Most of the story is about only 2 characters, but I was completely engrossed.

The narrator was a little hard to understand. He did a great job with the different voices and the Australian accents, but he would start his sentences strong and then taper off at the end of each sentence, so I had to keep the volume way too loud in order to hear the end of his sentences. I usually listen to books at 1.25 - 1.5 times the normal speed, but could not do that with this book, due to the accent and the change in volume.

Great book, reader is hard to understand

This is a really great story, but the reader was so difficult to understand I felt that I missed parts of it. I had to turn the volume up so loud because the reader drops his voice at the end of his sentences. He has a great accent and that added to the story but it was so difficult to understand it was WORK to listen to. Buy the print version!

Moving story

Moving story in a beautiful setting. Very real characters with real response to tragedy. I found the reader to be believable as the main character's voice but sometimes hard to hear as his voice volume trended down at the end of sentences.