M.L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans reads like an older book, which isn’t a bad thing. (What is a bad thing is that the author and her editor didn’t seem to notice the frequent changes in verb tense throughout the novel. I’m not talking about flashbacks here! I’m talking about tense changes between one paragraph and the next or one section and the next. Is that something that would only bother an English teacher?)
Tom Sherbourne, a young man estranged from his family, returns home to Australia after World War I. Haunted by his experiences in the war, Tom chooses a solitary life on a remote island off the western coast of Australia, where he manages the lighthouse. But he is not completely alone. Shortly before he begins his first stretch on the island, he meets a young woman who becomes his wife, his sole companion on Janus Rock.
Though their life together begins happily, an unexpected incident soon brings trouble, conflict, and uncertainty to their relationship.
The Light Between Oceans is a sad story, and one of Stedman’s strengths is her ability to make the reader connect with and sympathize with each of the characters in the book.
OFF THE PAGE 