The Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There is a lot of good about this book. For large sections, it is beautifully written. At times it is genuinely moving. The main characters are interesting and the author does a good job of explaining their motivations.

The part I love the most about this book is the way that the author captures the lives of men and women who endure hardships and risk their lives to make everyone else's lives possible (in this case, lighthouse keepers, but the same could be said of many neglected professions).

And then, everything is ruined when...[they steal a baby, and the point of view of the book is that you are clearly supposed to feel sympathetic to these people despite this. It would be one thing if the book told how these two were driven to commit this crime and explained their motivation (which it does). But that isn't all. Everything in the book is trying to drive you to feel like they are the heroes of the situation. From that point on, the book is morally repulsive. (hide spoiler)]

Spoilers below

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The couple steal a baby, and from the point of view of the book, you are clearly supposed to feel sympathetic to these people despite this horrible act. It would be one thing if the book told how these two were driven to commit this crime and explained their motivation (which it does). But that isn't all. Everything in the book is trying to drive you to feel like they are the heroes of the situation. From that point on, the book is morally repulsive.

The much more minor problem, it seems to me, is the piling up of coincidences that make the plot possible. After a while they became too much for me, but in another novel that didn't have the other problem I'd probably been willing to overlook them.

Two stars for the writing and the focus on the forgotten.

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