THE BOOK FAIR

Review:

M. L. Steadman’s highly acclaimed, beautifully written first novel addresses the dilemma of one’s morals obligations juxtaposed to the commitment of  love and family.

 

In the year 1920, Tom Sherbourne, a veteran of WW I, in need of solace and quiet after the war, accepts a position as a lighthouse keeper, on Janus Rock, off the coast of Western Australia.

 

Tom soon meets Isabel Graysmark, ten years his junior, who is bright, vivacious and precocious.  The couple marries, moves to Janus Rock and enjoys the quiet isolation, the wind and stars, the stretch of endless blue seas and the total privacy.  However, as the years pass, Isabel wants children and begins to find Janus Rock lonely and desolate. One day, a boat crashes ashore.  The boat carries a dead man and a crying infant.  Having recently miscarried her third baby, Isabel decides she must keep the infant girl against Tom’s many protests. 

 

Tom struggles with the effects of battle fatigue and survivor’s guilt.  Tom swore an oath after the war that he would never again intentionally harm another living being.  Tom, positively sure the baby has a mother looking for her, pleads his case to notify the authorities but Isabel, entranced with motherhood, refuses, believing the baby’s mother dead.

 

Tom battles his conscience, loving his daughter no less than does his wife.  Though, the more he loves the child, the more he struggles with the guilt of keeping her from her family who he believes awaits her return.  However, Tom also cannot bear to see his wife endure the loss of another child.  Tom struggles to find a way to alleviate his conscience, as he follows his prior oath while he cares for the child his wife loves above all else.

 

“The Light Between Oceans”, remains unpredictable throughout the story with beautifully written, thoughtful passages.  The novel, descriptive and sensitive, flows steadily, building the contrast between characters and moral obligations before turning into a heart thumping page turner.  The characters, so well described, and so full of life, arouse an intense array of emotions.  Highly recommended.