I couldn't read The Light Between Oceans quick enough. It is an excruciating, lump in the throat story of love and loss set in post WW1 Western Australia. Tom is the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock and lives there with his wife Isabel, who is desperate to have a child. When the body of a man and a distraught baby turn up on the island, it doesn’t take very long for them to make a decision of monumental personal impact and far reaching ramifications. To fulfil their own desires they make weighty justifications for their actions and choose to not to consider the possible detriment it may be causing to other people, at least initially. The emotional tension and suspense of this story had me on edge and wanting there to be a happy ending for everyone involved, knowing that this wasn’t possible, had me really churned up. The landscape of Janus Rock, its isolation, the ocean and the elegant descriptions of the lighthouse and the relationship between it and its keeper, combined with the palpable sadness of the inhabitants of Partageuse at the loss of so many lives in the war, make this debut novel by M. L. Stedman unforgettable.

Oh, the anguish. This may be the saddest book I've ever read (trumping Les Miserables and The Book Thief). I had some control at the beginning of the novel and held back my tears by in the last chapter or so I was a complete mess. It was emotionally traumatic.

I was utterly enthralled by Stedman's writing style and I was captured by the character's stories. I literally couldn't put this book down. I was swept away into their anxieties and I wasn't let go till the very end.

This book has a whole heap of downs. Like things can't go right for these characters and you immediately feel for them. You begin to sympathise with every one of the characters and after awhile, sympathising with every character creates unwanted anxieities because it every character can't possibly be satisfied. Oh the anguish! I felt so deeply for all the characters and I didn't know how they would make it through all of this. I was completely consumed with anxiety throughout this novel and then brought to an emotional mess at the conclusion.

I love sad books, books that make me feel something, and boy did this book make me feel.

What a masterpiece of dramatic writing!

This is the best book I have read for a while. Beautifully written, likeable characters and a story that poses a few questions about desparation, loyalty, love and secrets.

Tom and and Isabel live an isolated island off W.A. in the 1920's, where Tom is the lightkeeper. One night a boat washes up onto shore with a deceased adult male and a baby who is very much alive. The couple make a decision that brings a stream of differing emotions and effects many people in different ways.

I liked both Tom and Isabel and understood how both of them felt about the life changing decision made. I could feel Isabel's desparation, Tom's guilt, their love and frustration.

I highly recommend this Australian Novel, it is difficult to put down. One of may favorite descriptive pieces in the book is the following

"On Janus there is no reason to speak. Tom can go for months and not hear his own voice. He knows some keeper's who make a point of singing just like turning over an engine to make sure it still works. But Tom finds freedom in the silence. He listens to the wind."