Book Discussion Group: The Light Between Oceans

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 day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss.

The Light Between Oceans is exquisite and unforgettable, a deeply moving novel. (From the publisher.)

Originally from Western Australia, M L Stedman has for many years lived in London, where she worked as a lawyer. She first decided to try creative writing in 1997, and set about finding a writing tutor. In the years that followed she did a few writing courses, and some of her short stories were published in anthologies.

Hollywood movie rights were recently snapped up by Dreamworks

Winner of three ABIA awards for Best Newcomer, Best Literary Novel and Book of the Year
Winner of two Indie Awards for Best Debut and Book of the Year
Winner of the Nielsen BookData Bookseller's Choice Award for 2013
Recently voted Historical Novel of 2012 by GoodReads' reading community