The Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans is a 2012 Australian historical fiction novel by M. L. Stedman, her debut novel, published by Random House Australia on 20 March 2012. A film adaptation of the same name starring Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender was released on 2 September 2016. Summary Thomas "Tom" Sherbourne returns home to Eastern Australia after fighting in the Western Front trenches of World War I with the First Australian Imperial Force. He left physically unscathed and with several decorations, but he suffers from nightmares and survivor guilt and seeks a quiet, remote job. Tom becomes the lighthouse keeper for Janus Rock, a small, isolated island southwest of Australia. He spends his last days on the mainland in Point Partageuse, during which he meets a young woman named Isabel Graysmark. He is struck by her innocence and cheeriness, in contrast to the general post-war gloom in the town. As Tom begins his shift on Janus Rock, he finds comfort in the regulated structure and simple life of a keeper. His only contact with the outside world is through Ralph and Bluey, who run the supply boat to Janus every three months. He begins to correspond with Isabel, and the two spend time together during Tom's leave periods on the mainland. They get married six months later, despite Tom's worries that she will struggle to adjust to life on Janus. The couple are happy together on the island for some time; however, their efforts to have a child result in two miscarriages and a stillbirth, leaving them, especially Isabel, frustrated and on edge. Two weeks after the stillbirth, they are shocked when a dinghy washes up carrying a dead man and a living infant girl. Tom wants to report the incident, but Isabel convinces him that they should keep the child as a "gift from God" and act as though she were their own. They informally adopt her, and name her Lucy. Raising a child causes a transformation in Isabel, and she quickly becomes the caring mother she has long wanted to be. Lucy also uncovers a loving side of Tom that had been buried by the war and an abusive childhood. When the Sherbourne family returns to Partageuse for the first time since Lucy's arrival, they introduce her to friends and family, and take her to be christened. Just before, they hear the story of Hannah Potts, a woman from a well-off local family, who married an Austrian, Frank Roennfeldt, which caused them to be ostracized by the town.