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)

The challenges faced

I held my breath as this story of lives on the remote Australian coast unfolded, with the choices made, unthinkable consequences realized and the resiliency of fragile lives revealed. I needed to hear the resolution, but didn't want the story to end.

Wonderful story; boring narration

What did you love best about The Light Between Oceans?

I'm halfway through the first half of the narration. The story is lovely. The narrator sounds like he's in a hurry to get to an appointment, he couldn't be more bored with the story, and he just wants to get through it before the football game starts. I'm going to have to give up on the narration and go read the Kindle version.

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

Not even

Any additional comments?

Audible should have known that this narrator just is not skilled. There is not a lot of characterization available in the reading, but Mr. Taylor seems to think his job is just to read all the words in a monotone, quickly, then get on with something else.

Wonderful story

I feel like it just ended but I was entirely captivated by it until it started wrapping up, the narrator is great. Author is very descriptive

Can't Understand the Narrator

If you could sum up The Light Between Oceans in three words, what would they be?

Potential but poor reader.

What did you like best about this story?

The story itself.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The way he read the book. He is awful.

Any additional comments?

Read the book because listening to it is very difficult.

Touched My Heart.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book had slow points, but the reading was beautiful and the story was lovely.

What did you like best about this story?

The descriptions were vivid, and the heartbreak was real.

Great ending!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I'd recommend this to anyone wanting to read a good story about human relationships.

What other book might you compare The Light Between Oceans to and why?

Nicholas Sparks stories, and others similar in style.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I thought the narration matched the pace of the story well. I liked that the narrator's accent seemed to match the location of the story (Australia), but I did not like that he dropped the volume at the end of sentences.

Do you think The Light Between Oceans needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No follow-up necessary. The ending didn't leave unanswered questions.

Horrible narration

Beautiful sad story, but I think I would have gotten more out of had I read it instead. The narrator was so hard to understand, I missed quite a lot of the story because I couldn't understand what he was saying. Maybe it was his accent which is quite thick Australian, but I will not listen to this narrator again.

Great story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Didn't care for the Narrator, hos speech wasn't clear or consistant

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Noah Taylor?

Anyone else

Any additional comments?

would definitely recommend it!

This book stays with you.

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

While listening to this book, I felt transported to a different place and time. The descriptions of the lighthouse and Austrailia are written beautifully. The story takes enough time to develop the characters so that you care about them and can feel pity for them when they face the consequences of their choices. This is a story where the antagonist is chance and the unpredictability of life.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the way that the stories of the characters were intertwined. The truth of the relationships, the consequences of acting our of love, and the ultimate forgiveness of oneself, made this book memorable.

What about Noah Taylor’s performance did you like?

I loved listening to Noah Taylor read with his accent. His reading took the experience of the book to a whole new level.

Awful, awful, awful Narrator - good story

One of the hardest books to listen to as the narration is simply awful. The accent, the slurring of most words, the variation in the volume spoken.... UGH!