The Light Between Oceans
by M. L. Stedman
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good+/Very Good+
- ISBN 10
- 1451681739
- ISBN 13
- 9781451681734
- Seller
-
Springfield, Missouri, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
1st ed. / 1st printing. VG+ book / VG+ DJ. Used copy though appears unread, faint age toning / foxing to top textblock, else very tight and clean textblock with full numberline. DJ has only light shelfwear / rubbing, no tears or chipping and 25.00 price intact. Not remaindered. See photos.
Synopsis
This months-long New York Times bestseller is âÈêirresistibleâÈöseductiveâÈöwith a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page,âÈë (O, The Oprah Magazine). After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a dayâÈçs journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a babyâÈçs cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. Tom, who keeps meticulous records and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel insists the baby is a âÈêgift from God,âÈë and against TomâÈçs judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.
Reviews
The Light Between Oceans is the first novel by Australian-born author, M.L.Stedman. A veteran of the First World War, 27-year-old Tom Sherbourne takes a position with the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service and finds himself on a remote island off the West Australian coast, at the meeting point of the Indian and Southern Oceans. Grateful (if guilty) to have survived, Tom is happy to live a quiet life, so meeting and marrying the fascinating Isabel Graysmark is well beyond his expectations. Their happiness on Janus Rock is marred only by Isabel’s failed pregnancies. Then, in 1926, a boat washes up on the beach containing a dead man and a tiny, very-much-alive baby. The decisions the couple make at this point will have consequences they could never have imagined. Stedman has crafted a beautiful story: an original plot filled with dilemmas that will have the reader contemplating long after the last page; luminous prose that is marvellously descriptive of the Western Australian landscape and effectively conveys the post-war atmosphere; and characters with depth and appeal whose situations evoke empathy (only the most hard-hearted reader will finish this book without a tear shed). Stedman’s extensive research into the area, the era and, in particular, lighthouses, is apparent in every paragraph. Stedman made me want to find out more about lighthouses and maybe climb one; she also made me want to see Izzy and Lucy’s drawings. My favourite quote of many comes from Tom: “I’ve learned the hard way that to have any kind of future you’ve got to give up hope of ever changing your past.” This brilliant novel has been a world-wide bestseller and was long-listed for the Miles Franklin Literary Award: a win would have been richly deserved.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Backwater Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- biblio338
- Title
- The Light Between Oceans
- Author
- M. L. Stedman
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good+
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good+
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First ed., First printing
- ISBN 10
- 1451681739
- ISBN 13
- 9781451681734
- Publisher
- Scribner
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 2012
- Pages
- 343
- Keywords
- First edition
Terms of Sale
Backwater Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Backwater Books
About Backwater Books
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- Shelfwear
- Minor wear resulting from a book being place on, and taken from a bookshelf, especially along the bottom edge.
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.