The Lamplighters

By: Emma Stonex

Narrated by: Indira Varma, Tom Burke

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

This audiobook is narrated by Indira Varma and Tom Burke.

As recommended by the BBC Radio 2 Book Club.

They say we'll never know what happened to those men. They say the sea keeps its secrets....

Cornwall, 1972. Three lighthouse keepers vanish from a remote rock, miles from the shore. The entrance door is locked from the inside. The clocks have stopped. The principal keeper's weather log describes a mighty storm, but the skies have been clear all week.

What happened to those three men, out on the tower? The heavy sea whispers their names. The tide shifts beneath the swell, drowning ghosts. Can their secrets ever be recovered from the waves?

Twenty years later, the women they left behind are still struggling to move on. Helen, Jenny and Michelle should have been united by the tragedy, but instead it drove them apart. And then a writer approaches them. He wants to give them a chance to tell their side of the story. But only in confronting their darkest fears can the truth begin to surface....

Inspired by real events, The Lamplighters, by Emma Stone is an intoxicating and suspenseful mystery, an unforgettable story of love and grief that explores the way our fears blur the line between the real and the imagined.

©2021 Emma Stonex (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International Ltd

Critic reviews

"A mystery, a love story and a ghost story, all at once. I didn’t want it to end." (S. J. Watson)

Beautifully written.

Very refreshing to be a witness to a version of life events that may have happened that are lyrically written, embed the related experience of women and children coping with “men’s work,” and avoid the hyper brutal version more recent films have taken.
The fact that the language used is so vibrant and engaging..more painterly, than not, is a bountiful bonus.

What a fantastic listen!

This, so far, has been my favorite audible. Everything about this experience was both memorable and captivating. The narration was beautifully done, it conveyed the book so well. The plot still resonates with me and I find myself talking about it in conversation.
I highly recommend. Well worth the credit.