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I've been hearing about The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman for awhile, so I was very excited to stumble across a hardback copy for $4.98 at Barnes & Noble back in August. I enjoyed the book, but I'm not sure if it's because I can relate as a parent or if others may find it slow moving. Let me explain.
Set in Australia with the backdrop of a recently ended WWI, the premise of the book is that Tom and Isabel Sherbourne, the couple who run the Lighthouse on Janus (an island), find a dead man and an infant in a washed up rowboat. Not having any contact with the mainland for months and years at a time, the couple decides to keep the baby as their own and bury the man. It is at this point the reader starts waiting. There is no way any good can come from this. Years pass before events conspire to bring about the unfolding the reader knows is coming.
This is where I wonder how much audience experience and/or sensibilities play into the book. As a mother of three, I had no problem reading through parts with less action, because I understood the feelings of the couple's situation and the potential problem. And when the problem hit full force, I could grasp the whirlwind of emotion that rips through everyone. I wonder if someone without kids or who doesn't work with kids would be a little bored with the years between the start and the end, where life just goes on. I'm not suggesting people without kids are heartless, just wondering if the identifying makes the book better. I don't know, just a thought.
What I really liked about the ending is the show of mercy, forgiveness, and love displayed between characters who have no earthly reason to do so. No, it's not the norm, but I think mercy, forgiveness, and love should be our aim. I enjoyed this story very much.
Also, there's a movie in the works! Here's the one little article I glimpsed of it. Have you read it? Would it make a good movie?
Your post got me thinking about how much I don't relate to the characters that I have been reading about recently. I need to find a book or two in which I am similar to the protagonist.
ReplyDeleteI think that connection makes all the difference sometimes.
DeleteI read this book, and I didn't love it. I think that's partially because I don't have kids. I simply could not understand the depth of despair Isabel was in that would make her think keeping someone else's child was a good idea. I wasn't bored, and I totally GET the emotions, it just didn't hit home for me in the way I think it would if I had little ones.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input...that's exactly what I was wondering.
DeleteI've been on the fence about this one, because I'm finding that this kind of theme is too hard for me to read /because/ I'm now a mom. But, I'm still a newer mom (relatively speaking... my daughter is just 4) so maybe I'll be braver a few years down the road? :)
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean. When my girls were in those toddler/elementary years, I had to stop watching shows like ER and SVU (and the news) because children showed up too many times and I couldn't handle it. There was an episode of ER that just haunted me for months afterward. Definitely maybe in a few years this one will be in better timing for you. My older two being teenagers, some of these themes have become easier...it's now some of the YA stuff that bothers me!
DeleteI heard about this book some time ago and thought it might be something I'd like to read. The (wanting at all cost) premise is intriguing like The Snow Child book, and The Odd Life of Timothy Green movie.
ReplyDeleteWanting a child, when you don't or can't have one, is a depth of emotion which transcends actually having a child. I have two grown daughters now, but years ago when pregnancy seemed unlikely, and in one incident tragic, I understand the longing completely.
Well Jennine you have me buying another book.
Carolynn, you know I don't feel bad spreading the joy of books! You will completely get this one.
DeleteI bought this book off the bargain table at B&N this summer too! I'm excited to read it, but you make an interesting point about how having/not having kids might affect how someone relates to this book. I'm thinking it might not be nearly as powerful for me since I don't have kids, but I'm looking forward to finding out!
ReplyDeleteI think it's still a good storyline regardless. A premise where you keep reading because you want to see what happens!
DeleteI have this book...and have yet to read it, much like the others I have in my TBR pile, so, I'm sorry I can't give an opinion here. That's the thing about a few of the books in that pile...I bought them based on the hype or because of a recommendation, and then sometimes, I get disappointed. In some ways, even though I have two kids of my own, I am already of a mindset that I might not find the story plausible... but what do I know? Because I had children, maybe I can't empathize with doing something like this...but, there are those who would steal/keep/ a child because their desire is so strong. THE SNOW CHILD mentioned above by another is one I read, and found to be a little surreal. And another, that was IMHO, more realistic was THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've read of summaries of The Snow Child, it is meant to be surreal. I don't do well with surreal, but I'll give it a try with so many recommendations. What made The Light Between Oceans work was the time period and the job as lighthouse keeper - they didn't get news for months at a time and only saw two people for that. Otherwise, they weren't on the mainland for three years at a time. Pretty much lived in isolation. Otherwise, it would've been hard to buy into. But I can see how having had kids you'd be more mad than empathetic with them.
DeleteMemory Keeper's Daughter is on my list to read by end of the year!
This is one of those books I've seen alot in the blogosphere, but haven't read. I am not sure if I will, but thanks for your thoughtful review!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed it, but not one I'd talk people into :)
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