The first time I read about this book on Amazon I didn't think I would want to read it. But something about it made me look at it every time I came across this book. The story. The setting. Something. When I did get my hands on the book I did not expect the emotional turmoil Stedman's writing takes you through is haunting.
After his treacherous time in the WW1, Tom returns home to Australia, acquiring a job on the isolated island of Janus Rocks as a lighthouse keeper. This silent mundane life is why he chose to come here. He recorded the daily routine of the light and any activity on the land. A boat would come as seasons changed, with supplies and letters and sometimes a ride back. The journey to the coast took almost half a day.
On one of his visits to the town he strikes a romance with a young girl. After a long while of writing to one other, he comes back to shore for their wedding and returns to Janus Rocks with his new bride, Isabel.
Isabel brought in color and music into his monotonous life. She gave their home and the island a new perspective. Everything was jolly till they lost their first unborn child - then another and another, still born.
Going through this trauma is hard enough for any mother. It was harder for Isabel, alone on the island with no one else but her husband to shelter her from it all.
Her maternal wounds were still fresh when a boat floats in on the island with a crying baby and a dead man. For her it was God giving her a gift, a chance to motherhood. For him it was everything he wanted for his wife but not exactly in this manner. The couple was convinced that the baby who was wrapped in a women's cardigan had no parents left. The father was dead in front of them, and the mother they assumed drowned.
What they didn’t know that on the other side of the ocean, there was a grieving wife and mother. A father was forced to escape the town with his child by its residents. The townspeople marked her crazy for she awaited the return of her husband who jumped on a boat with their baby and never paddled back.
At one end there is a woman who would do anything to become a mother even if it were a baby that washed up with the tides. While, on the other end is a woman waiting for her child to return home, who by now is growing under the love of Isabel. As the years go by, the effects of their decisions are finally catching up with them.
And then begins the tale of parenthood. Love. Loss. Circumstantial decisions. The blurring line between right and wrong.
This novel is a subjective one, some may like it and some won’t. But you will have to read it for yourself to find out if a tale like this is your cup of tea. An excerpt of this book may not pull you in but the saga of Tom and Isabel will leave you with a whole array of emotions you did not expect coming your way.