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The Light Between Oceans is a book by M.L. Stedman, published in 2012 and adapted to film four years later. It’s categorized as historical fiction and won various awards, including the Indie Book Awards’ Book of the Year in 2013.

All references in this guide are based on the 2012 Scribner edition, accessed through Scribd.com.

In 1918, Tom Sherbourne returns from the First World War and takes a job as a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock. He’s emotionally scarred by his experiences in war, so he finds comfort in the simple life of being a lighthouse keeper.

Tom falls in love with a girl named Isabel. She is bold and fearless, but she lives life by her heart alone. Tom hopes that he will marry Isabel after the war ends, but she has three miscarriages and is depressed and lonely for much of their marriage.

When a boat carrying a dead man and an infant washes up on shore, Isabel convinces Tom to keep the child. She wants to raise her as their own daughter, but he is concerned about taking in a stranger’s child. He agrees because of his wife’s desire for a baby and the townspeople think that Lucy is their biological daughter. Tom frequently thinks about whether they made the right choice by keeping Lucy or not. Isabel believes that she saved Lucy from potential danger at an orphanage or possibly death if left alone with no one to care for her.

Lucy’s mother, Hannah Roennfeldt, is alive and living in Partageuse. She was the victim of anti-German sentiment during the war. Her husband Frank had often been mistaken for a German and was attacked by an angry mob who threatened to take their infant daughter Grace from him before he died of a heart attack while paddling away from shore with his baby daughter.

When this story unfolds, Tom and Isabel face a choice—give Lucy back to her rightful mother or keep her. Isabel is desperate to keep her daughter, but Tom’s conscience leads him to contact Hannah anonymously so she knows that Lucy is alive and well.

Two years later, Tom and Isabel are visited by Hannah Roennfeldt. She is the rightful mother of Lucy. After this encounter, Tom and Isabel argue about whether to keep Lucy or give her up to Hannah. To comfort herself, Hannah receives a silver rattle that they found in the dinghy as proof of their daughter’s existence. Bluey recognizes it from his time working at Janus Rock lighthouse when he was younger and tells the police about it. As a result, Tom is arrested for kidnapping Lucy but given bail because there isn’t enough evidence against him yet. The couple loses custody over their daughter and Isabel is heartbroken over losing her baby girl again.

Tom is a good person who struggles with morality. He loves his wife, but he also feels compassion for her losses and wants to protect her from the truth of what happened. To do so, Tom claims that it was entirely his idea to keep the baby. The question then arises as to whether Frank Roennfeldt was already dead when they found him at sea or if Tom murdered him by drowning him in the ocean. If he’s convicted of murder, Tom could face death instead of prison time. Isabel is furious about this betrayal and must decide whether she should tell on him or not and risk being killed herself.

Hannah is having a hard time bonding with her daughter, who was taken away from the only family she’s ever known. The girl does not want to be mothered by Hannah and resists every attempt to have a relationship. Hannah’s sister asks if it would better for Grace to stay with them or go back to Hannah. After Grace runs away in an attempt to find Isabel and Tom, they agree that she can stay as long as Isabel swears that Tom was the only one at fault.