A Look at a book. The Light between Oceans.

The Light Between Oceans.

By M. Stedman.

A well-written and tightly crafted novel. Hard to believe it is Stedman’s debut. The story begins with Tom Sherbourne excepting a position to tend a lighthouse, on the island of Janus Rock off the western coast of Australia. He is seeking solitude and isolation while dealing with his post-war survivor guilt. On a trip to the town of Point Partageuse he meets Isabel, they marry and begin their life together, she keeping house and he keeping loving and professional care of the lighthouse (itself becoming a character)

 The tone sets the mood, they want children but are devastated with two miscarriages and one still-born, we know there is not going to be a jolly outcome, but from the beautiful prose and vivid description of life on a wild and isolated island, we are pulled deeper and mindfully into the fold. It is with deep trepidation we see what happens when two people make a choice, and its outcome will change the lives of many and last for decades.

I enjoyed the book. The book reviews have been positive. Some readers on Goodreads noted the change in tense being clunky and the author’s modern voice being at odds with the 1920’s time period.

I wanted to share some information relating to the author.

Extract from an interview with the author. The plotting in this novel is tight and neatly crafted (almost like a ship, I kept thinking as I was reading). Do you think that your work as a lawyer has impacted your writing style in terms of attention to details, an ability to cross all the "t" and dot all the "i"s?

I love the idea of the plot being as sound as a ship! I think the greatest impact of my legal background is that it allows me to write freely and spontaneously, without meticulously plotting in advance. Lawyers are probably hard-wired for structure, so it’s a reflex rather than something to spend a lot of conscious thought on. And yes, the legal training helps on the detail, too, making sure that things are consistent.

Q: When it comes to the setting, the book seems to be written with much love. Is that coastal setting close to your heart?

Definitely! I’m always happiest beside an ocean. I grew up with the West Australian landscape, and I so enjoyed putting it on the page – describing the place I’ve loved all my life.

Q: Who are your own favorite writers? Do you think any of them have had an impact on this novel?

A few favorites who spring to mind (in no particular order) are Graham Greene, George Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cormac McCarthy, Jane Gardam, Andre Gide, Ian McEwan, Edith Wharton, Katherine Mansfield... I suppose what they have in common is an unflinching eye, a profound understanding of the human heart, and a mastery of language. Those are the qualities I find most rewarding in books, so they’re the ones I’d like to bring, in however pale a reflection, to what I write.

Marjorie Kehe is the Monitor's books editor.

Overall, it is a great read, the reasoning at times made me a little annoyed with Isabel, to turn the story emotionally, the author has Isabel angry with Tom, knowing he may hang if she does not tell the truth. I found it hard to believe she could convince herself that it was his fault. She might have made the right decision in the end, but the only way I could justify her reasoning was, she must be mad. I probably would have been off my rocker, after such an ordeal.

Lara Robinson

Here is some popular prose from the kindle conversations.

The curls of the dark hair swirling like a net cast on the wind.

You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day. You have to keep remembering all the bad things.

You can kill a bloke with rules, Tom knew that. And yet sometimes they were what stood between a man and savagery, between man and monsters.

The rain is falling more heavily, and in the distance, thunder grumbles at being left behind by the lightning.

Words on words. Crossing to Safety

4 of 5 stars.

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.
Lara Robinson.
11/29/12

I finished this book last night for our book club choice of the Month. I was not disappointed. He, Wallace, wouldn't let me. He sets the scene and tone. A young, in love, struggling couple, striving to excel in intellect with little finances meets a young and in love couple struggling to excel in intellect but are wealthy.

I might have actually wondered what was going to happen, what drama, suspense or mystery would propel us forward, but we are in the hands of a professional and just as we wonder, he tells us, no, that's not here, that's not what this is about, and we push forward on his simple path of friendship, that becomes deeper as we become more invested in their lives.

This is how he tells us what to expect.

"How do you make a book that anyone will read out of lives as quiet as these? Where are the things that novelists seize upon and readers expect? Where is the high life, the conspicuous waste, the violence, the kinky sex, the death wish? . . . Where are speed, noise, ugliness, everything that makes us who we are and makes us recognize ourselves in fiction?''


It was a beautiful book, I liked that he spent some time telling us about Sally in the end, when we are all fully with Charity, he tells us what we have been wondering all the time. What was his own marital relationship like? He seemed so focused on Sid and Charity. He asked all the right questions, about love and loss and the end of life. All those questions were answered either by the last actions of Charity, when she finally wept, or by his reveling his view of how Sally made him a better person by her disability. Nicely done, well crafted, and tenderly told.

I had never read any work by Wallace Stegner and his accolades read nearly as long as his book. Certainly, he was prolific.

A look at books. The Casual Vacancy.

  -->

The Casual Vacancy

By Lara Robinson

It doesn’t matter that J.K. Rowling is the author of the Harry Potter blockbusters. This is her debut novel in adult fiction, not to be compared with middle grade fantasy. Yet before the first page is turned (or stroked, if you are a kindle reader) we have certain expectations. This is J.K.

The novel is set in the little town of Pagford and opens with Barry Fairbrother, (in his early forties.) He has just written, finished and sent an article to the local paper and is going out to dinner with his wife for their anniversary. He dies on page five and I can tell you this, he is the nicest person in the book. By nicest, I mean we never get to see his bitter, petty and narrow-minded side. We will however, explore in much detail and with heavy narrative, the minds of every other citizen of Pagford affected by the divide that Barry’s death propels. Barry’s vacant seat on the council becomes the center of a downward spiral and eventual implosion of the class struggling Pagford.

The cast and plot center round the efforts of those who wish to oust the rundown, drug infested, crime-riddled housing estate called The Fields. Giving its welfare responsibility to the bigger, neighboring town, of Yarvil. Along with freeing themselves of the social burden of a welfare estate, they wish to rid themselves of a much used drug rehabilitation center - a building owned by the town of Pagford. They are pitted against those that want to follow in the footsteps of Barry Fairbrother to help, encourage, and change the dark and dreadful lives of the residents of The Fields.

The reviews have been mixed. Credit is given to J.K. Rowling for tapping into the emotions, and motivations of the teenagers as they struggle to find their identity and value in their family and town. Rowlings has taken on just about every social sickness known in today’s society. From incest and rape to drug abuse and hatred, she tackles it all. Some say, maybe too much without any hope or light.  In one triumphant moment at the end of the novel, written in flashback, there is hope. But it is undeniably, too late.

Overall, she has written a book that is as deep and complex as Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, and while “White Teeth revels in the ecstatic hodgepodge of modern life, flirting with disaster, confounding expectations, and embracing the comedy of daily existence,” JK does not flirt. She goes all the way and brings this town to the stark reality, that when given the choice to ignore, indeed cast off, all moral and social responsibilities, the benefits, benefit no one.

I recommend reading this book on a kindle, you will be highlighting and sharing all the way. If not, have a dictionary on hand. It can be heavy and laborious, and certainly gives you much to mull over.

If you have read the Casual Vacancy and would like to comment, please do, books, like art are subjective and I would love to hear all your thoughts and revelations.  Loved it or couldn’t read it, let me know!