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)

Fabulous book

l Loved this book and highly recommend it! A very compelling and emotionally stimulating read.

Very enjoyable from start to finish.

I enjoyed this story. The narrator was excellent and easy on the ears. The story well written took us through the joys and struggles spannIng decades.

Wonderful

I usually don’t like fiction audio books but this one was wonderful. Great narration and story was beautifully written. Highly recommend.

Excellent writing!

Truly excellent writing. Brilliant in fact. Great story but very slow in some areas. That being said definitely worth a listen

Wonderful

Enjoyed this very much. The sweetness and pain of the story paired with the slow, pensive narration made this a book I looked forward to each evening before bed. At times, the struggle of the characters moved me to tear up, and I savored the humanity.

reader

took a bit to grab ahold of me, but then it's a fascinating and tender story. at times the reader was difficult to understand with his accent and when a sentence trails off, so does his voice making it a little hard to hear. overall, very good book. if recommend this.

Beautiful

This book is beautifully written and narrated. Although I did not always agree with the choices made by the characters, I felt I understood and empathized with them all. This can be a hard feat for an author to accomplish. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book and can't wait to discuss it. There is much to think about.

I enjoyed this book, mostly.

The story was very good but I wish in this case I'd actually read the book instead of listening to it. The narrator wasn't the best. I understand he was trying to keep to the tone of the book but his mumbling combined with the Aussie accent made it difficult for me to hear/understand sometimes.

good read!

Loved it! A little slow in the middle, but kept me listening & has such a great story. However, i was wishing it had ended differently. Still loved it tho!

Amazing story..

Loved it from the beginning to end...was hesitant to read it because of the comments about the narrator .. he was the perfect voice for the story...was able to convey the point of view of all three main characters..he "got" them..read before movie is released!