The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

"When It comes to their kids, Parents are all just instinct and hope" -The Light Between Oceans

Operating a lighthouse on Janus Island ensures a life of solitude. Your only contact with civilization is a supply boat that arrives every 6 months. For the remainder of the time it's you, the ocean, and the burning light atop the lighthouse. For Tom, this was exactly what he was looking for. Returning from a war that did not make sense left him in a state somewhere between the past and the present. Tom welcomed the solitude of Janus Island. It seemed a better proposition then reestablishing into society.

Isabel, a young women, felt constricted by her small town. She wanted adventure, she wanted love, she wanted something besides… This. Falling in love with Tom and moving to an island to work the lighthouse seem like the perfect remedy for her uneasiness. A blissful time between the two of them where they could explore their life together untethered from society. Still somehow the long arm of grief would find this small island.

Sarah was a mother who had tragically lost her husband and baby daughter sea. How could she go on after losing the two closest people to her? She did not care about what others thought or said of her. She knew they thought she had lost her mind and was a rambling mad woman. No matter what others said she would always keep the hope of her family returning. She promised her self she would never stop fighting and looking for her baby. She would never lose hope.

A boat washes up on the shore of Janus Island. A new born baby is inside, cold and wet, but alive. This was the concurrent fulfillment of hopes and dreams. Four lives now intertwined like a Greek tragedy. And the classic question is posed: is it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?

The Light Between Oceans is a entertaining, and well written story. It's a classically written love story that captures the incredibly joy and deep pain of human love. This novel took me a little longer than usual to get into and is definitely outside my normal read, but once the plot starts developing I was easily carried along by the current of the story. As a father of 3 I kept being torn with empathy for both Isabelle and Sarah. Ms. Stedman did a fantastic job of bringing out real believable emotion from the characters. The ending was not what I was expecting or hoping for, but it at least brought closure to the story. Carve out a nice bit of time to enjoy this novel and be on the lookout for those lighthouses. They help us avoid danger.