Comments (151)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 151 items
Apr 08, 2023Anita_Dickey rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I read this book for the 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge. I used the 2023 reading challenge prompt read a book set in Australia. It was a well written story. It needs to come with trigger warnings though. For this reason, i didn't…
Mar 04, 2023
Marty Rosa
Nov 25, 2022
LOVE LOVE LOVED IT
Aug 18, 2022mmlotok rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
So much dysfunction and unpleasantness in the story. The writing was quite good and my curiousity kept me going until the end, but I didn't really care for the book.
Aug 08, 2022TaraMayNielsen rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Such an amazing book. Added to the favorites shelf.
Jun 21, 2022Alpha_zzz rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Upon my initial reading, I thought this would be a good story to curl up with as it casually unfolded. However, I found it to be a slow burn for a long while. It eventually sped up and piqued my interest, but then came the question of…
Feb 05, 2022johannaharlen rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
An epic, multilayered, unusual, sad, tragic love story. A story about happiness, disappointment, intertwined lives, forgiveness, atonement, and the pain of loss. It is unconventional and unusual and perhaps a little controversial. Nobody…
Sep 08, 2021Lovestoread5 rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
I just couldn't get into it. :/
Mar 01, 2021readersixtyseven rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Beautiful book! Well written leaving the reader fully knowing what it is to live the human experience in all its splendor and adversities. Wish I read the book before watching the movie. The writer offered wonderful insight into the…
Aug 29, 2020grammycarol49 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A lighthouse keeper and his wife find a wrecked boat with a dead man and a baby inside and make decisions that have far-reaching effects. Movie also.
Jul 08, 2020AlexaLe rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
It is often difficult to choose between what is morally correct and what makes one truly happy, even if that happiness comes at the expense of others. This is the situation for Tom and his young wife, Isabel, find themselves in throughout…
Apr 20, 2020ryner rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Tom and Isabel Sherbourne live a relatively isolated life on an island off the Australian coast where Tom is a lighthouse keeper. To their astonishment a boat washes ashore with a baby inside. Isabel, who previously suffered several…
Feb 25, 2020esrobbins rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
A thought provoking story. I kept wondering what I would do in that situation. The author does a great job of setting up the characters and their backgrounds so you really understand why they chose to do what they did. The theme of being…
Andreevan1
Jul 17, 2019Andreevan1 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
The novel is a slow-paced read at first, building the main characters' lives brick by brick, whereas the pace and intensity pick up in the second half of the book as the plot thickens. The last few chapters leave you in tears and pondering…
Jul 14, 2019EljayJohnson rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Tom is a damaged Australian WWI war hero who returns with no hope for his life. He goes into the Lighthouse Service hoping the isolation will be a balm. He unexpectedly meets Isabel, the love of his life, they marry and take up residence…
Feb 01, 2019goddessbeth rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This is a lovely historical fiction heartbreak of a novel, set in Western Australia in the few decades following WWI. It's well-written, with a slow, contemplative pace and plenty of tugs on the heartstrings. The author clearly did their…
Jan 30, 2019wyenotgo rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I am somewhat conflicted in my response to this book. I should perhaps deal first with what it was that troubled me about it. First, it's manipulative of the reader's emotions and for me, that's difficult to forgive. Second, the plot is…
Jan 23, 2019
This is a From Sister book I have. Story of a lighthouse-keeper w/wife on a remote island lighthouse between Australia's South Sea and the Indian Ocean. A shipwrecked dead man and live baby wash ashore, leaving the man to grapple with…
Dec 23, 2018kwsmith rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Set on the lonely coast of Australia just after the end of the first World War, this is a character driven novel about the ethics of love. Stedman's writing is solid, but I completely hated her characters, and the plot wasn't deep enough…
Nov 18, 2018DearJournal rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This book starts out slowly but with purpose like a train now leaving the station. At the end of the book you are not the same person that began the book. It stimulate your thought process; it is impossible to be a passive reader. The…
Aug 30, 2018Dream24 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I picked this book up with high hopes, only to feel a little let down. There is quite the dilemma here. Tom and Isabel have had like 3 miscarriages and 1 stillbirth (something like that). One day a row boat drifts to Janus carrying a…
Apr 18, 2018orange_lobster_23 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Newly-wed WWII veteran Tom Sherburne takes the position of lighthouse keeper on a remote coastal Australian island with his wife in order to regain a sense of peace and stability. After wife Isabel suffers two miscarriages and a…
Nov 20, 2017smiliesar rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
loved the beginning of this book but it was such a frustrating ending and so much heartache I wish I's never read it
Oct 25, 2017dlh1 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I found this book to be very thought provoking, regarding the choices we make in life. Sometimes our instincts lead us off the path of what is "right". The author chose to let the characters face the consequences and grow (from not…
Sep 11, 2017
My heart hurt and was joyful after reading this book. It was brilliant.