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)

Super story, the reading not good

The story of the book is excellant, but i didn't like the reader. It was too much australian and not all people understand australian english. I lost some parts because of the reading but as i also use kindle parallel, i managed to return to parts and undestand them. Otherwise you must read the book it's great, now i want to see the movie

Good story, terrible narrator

I liked the book, but the narrator is awful! He pauses in between his sentences which is quite annoying. I also think this book would have been better if read by a female narrator. I would have related more to the women in the novel.

Wonderful

Loved the story even though it made me cry. My only complaint was the narrator. His sentences would trail off at the end making it difficult to understand and requiring the sound to be turned up louder than I would have liked.

Heart-rending!

What did you love best about The Light Between Oceans?

The story.

What did you like best about this story?

The love for Lucy/Grace.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Hannah's sister takes Lucy to see Isabel.

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

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Amazing! A must read. Can't wait to see the movie now.

Loved it.

Read (listened to) this for a book club read. I loved the characters and the development of the story. I sympathized with so many of the characters and understood their actions a different times. It's a heartbreaking story where there were really no winners. I recommend this book to others.

Lighthouse keeper's life

Great book that was highly recommended. Heart wrenching at times, but we'll resolved. Well written.

Emotionally compelling

Good story but I didn't care for the narrator. His voice frequently dropped to a low tone that was difficult to hear.

Too sad for me

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and since it's coming out as a movie I thought I'd give it a try. The book was sad all the way to the end. I won't be watching the movie!

Get a different narrator for this great story!

What did you love best about The Light Between Oceans?

The story was a good one

What did you like best about this story?

The characters and the story.

Would you be willing to try another one of Noah Taylor’s performances?

No - the last part of every sentence was impossible to hear! He started out each sentence in a normal tone, and whispered the end, making it impossible to hear what was being said. I was so frustrated with the narration that I will be sure to never listen to one of his performances again!

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

yes

Any additional comments?

It would have been great with someone who spoke so that I was able to listen to the entire story - not just the first portion of each sentence!

A poignantly sad but beautiful story

I really enjoyed this book. It was a beautiful story, I’ll be at sad at times. The descriptions of the times and Australia along with the lighthouse were lovely. There were times when the narrator sounded a bit bored in his descriptions, although I think that was just his style, I would’ve appreciated a little more oomph. All in all I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.