The Light Between Oceans
Play sample
  • Published: 26 April 2012
  • ISBN: 9781448122820
  • Imprint: RH AudioGo
  • Format: Audio Download
  • Length: 10 hr 21 min
  • Narrator: Noah Taylor

The Light Between Oceans

Buy from…
Apple Books Audible Google Play Kobo Libro.fm Spotify

A stunning debut novel about a lighthouse keeper and his wife who face a life-changing moral dilemma. For fans of The Island.

The crying persisted. The door of the ligthhouse clanged in the distance, and Tom's tall frame appeared on the gallery as he scanned the island with the binoculars. 'Izzy!' he yelled, 'a boat!' He vanished and re-emerged at ground level. 'It's a boat all right,' Tom declared. 'And – oh cripes! There's a bloke, but –' The figure was motionless, yet the cries still rang out. He hoisted out a woollen bundle: a woman's soft lavender cardigan wrapped around a tiny, screaming infant.

Tom Sherbourne, released from the horrors of the First World War, is now a lighthouse keeper, cocooned on a remote island with his young wife Izzy, who is content in everything but her failure to have a child.

One April morning, a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man - and a crying baby. Safe from the real world, Tom and Izzy break the rules and follow their hearts.

It is a decision with devastating consequences.


Australian actor NOAH TAYLOR made his name in critically acclaimed films such as The Year My Voice Broke and Shine, and has also appeared in high-profile blockbusters such as the two Lara Croft Tomb Raider films and Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He recently starred in the accomplished British comedy Submarine.
  • Published: 26 April 2012
  • ISBN: 9781448122820
  • Imprint: RH AudioGo
  • Format: Audio Download
  • Length: 10 hr 21 min
  • Narrator: Noah Taylor
Categories:
Share…

About the author

M.L. Stedman

M. L. Stedman was born and raised in Western Australia, and now lives in London. The Light Between Oceans, her first novel, is an international bestseller, having spent well over a year on the New York Times Bestsellers list.

As well as being translated into almost forty languages, the book was nominated for the Miles Franklin Award, the Women’s Prize for Literature (the Orange/Bailey’s Prize), and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction to name a few, and won prizes including Best Literary Fiction, Best Newcomer and Book of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards, and Australian Indie Awards for Best Debut Novel and Book of the Year.

Director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond The Pines) is adapting the story for film, in association with producer David Heyman (Gravity, Harry Potter) and Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios.

Also by M.L. Stedman

The Light Between Oceans
See all

Praise for The Light Between Oceans

An extraordinary and heart-rending book about good people, tragic decisions and the beauty found in each of them

Markus Zusak, author of THE BOOK THIEF

Irresistible . . . seductive . . . a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page

Oprah Magazine

A love story that is both persuasive and tender

The Sunday Times

A moving tale. One of this year's must-reads

Stylist Magazine

An extraordinary book . . . Unforgettable

Guardian

It is not only the plot that it so compelling . . . What makes this wonderful novel stand out is the cast of emotionally fragile characters, all of whom inspire tremendous sympathy in the reader

Daily Express

A description of the extraordinary, sustaining power of a marriage to bind two people together in love

Daily Mail

The characters are beautifully drawn . . . A completely unique read. ****

Heat Magazine

A moving tale . . . prepare to weep

New York Times

The Light Between Oceans unfurls in small acts, at first feeling slight to touch, then building in emotional substance. Into the spaces between words, Stedman breathes an anxiety and pulsating intensity that roils with the ocean and the lighthouse beacon

Sydney Morning Herald

A spectacularly sure storyteller . . . Reading The Light Between Oceans is a total-immersion experience, extraordinarily moving.

Monica Ali, author of BRICK LANE and LOVE MARRIAGE

Mesmerising . . . the sheer passion and poetry of Stedman's prose carries us on a wave of emotion and heartbreak

Australian Woman's Weekly

Pick of the month: The memorable and moving tale of one couple’s search for happiness

Woman and Home

A haunting story peopled with characters you care about

Choice Magazine

Lyrical . . . Stedman’s debut signals a career certain to deliver future treasures

People

Stunning and memorable

Booklist

Heart-wrenching

Publisher's Weekly

Exquisite

Kirkus

Delicate and imaginative . . . beautifully written . . . deserves every single bit of its success

Scotsman

Told with the authoritative simplicity of a fable . . . engrossing . . . immediate and familiar

The New Yorker

Like a lighthouse, [The Light Between Oceans] shines a light in dark places, and its emotional resonance will stay with you for days

Irish Examiner

A thought-provoking debut novel . . . this beautifully delineated tale of love and loss, right and wrong, and what we will do for the happiness of those most dear to us, is moving without being maudlin

Boston Globe

An extraordinary and heart-rending book about good people, tragic decisions, and the beauty found in each of them

Markus Zusak, author of THE BOOK THIEF

A moving tale. One of this year's must-reads

Stylist magazine

Mesmerising...the sheer passion and poetry of Stedman's prose carries us on a wave of emotion and heartbreak.

Women's Weekly

The Light Between Oceans unfurls in small acts, at first feeling slight to touch, then building in emotional substance. Into the spaces between words, Stedman breathes an anxiety and pulsating intensity that roils with the ocean and the lighthouse beacon.

Sydney Morning Herald

Pick of the month: The memorable and moving tale of one couple’s search for happiness

Woman and Home

A description of the extraordinary, sustaining power of a marriage to bind two people together in love, through the most emotionally harrowing circumstances.

Daily Mail

The characters are beautifully drawn...A completely unique read. ****

Heat Magazine

Book of the Week. Critics are buzzing about The Light Between Oceans, the gripping debut from M L Stedman.

Grazia Magazine

Awards & recognition

ALS Gold Medal Award

Longlisted  •  2012  •  ALS Gold Medal Award

Asher Literary Prize

Shortlisted  •  2013  •  Asher Literary Prize

Discover more

Article
Insights from M L Stedman

Your questions about her incredible novel, The Light Between Oceans, answered.