Tom Sherbourne is a very private man. He hoards his feelings about his fractured childhood after losing his mother and about the dreadful experiences on the front lines during the war. When Tom returns from war and takes a job as a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock (nestled between two oceans), he takes with him his bright-eyed, eager young wife, Isabel. Life on the small island is lonely and filled with pain as Isabel loses one child after another.
Then, one day a boat washes up on shore with a dead man and a tiny, living baby. Tom, a rule-follower, wants to report the finding but his grieving wife wants to keep the baby. She sees it as a "gift from God." It is only when they return home to the mainland for a furlough, two years later, that they learn the full dynamics of their actions. Will they set the story straight and return the child to the rightful mother or will they cling to the happy family they have carved out of someone else's tragedy?
The story is magnetic. The writing is lyrical. Here's just one brief example of the poetic nature of Stedman's prose: "Like the wheat fields where more grain is sown than can ripen, God seemed to sprinkle extra children about and harvest them according to some indecipherable divine calendar." I would have taken down more if I hadn't been listening to the book in audio form. It was pure joy to listen to the mesmerizing rhythm of words crafted in this novel.
The characters disturb the status quo. They are compelling and deeply human, full of faults and foibles. I ached, sucked deeper and deeper into their dilemma. With so many possible outcomes, I struggled alongside the characters wondering what I would have done in their shoes.
I cannot recommend this novel enough. It was a brilliant tour de force and one I can't wait to read again in a few years when the dust has settled and the story can be somewhat new again. Just a warning, you will weep as you experience this heart-rending tale of longing and loss.
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