When Tom Sherbourne returns to his native Australia, mentally scarred by his experiences in World War I, he takes up a position as lighthousekeeper on a remote island called Janus Point off South-West Australia. While back on the mainland for a short time, he falls in love with and marries Isabel Graysmark and she comes to live with him on the island, where they are the only two inhabitants.
Their happiness is all but destroyed by two miscarriages and a stillbirth, so when a boat lands on the island with a dead man and a healthy young baby onboard, Tom and Isabel make the decision to raise the child as their own. But while they live a life of solitude on the island, it becomes clear that back on the mainland, their decision has affected the lives of many others and there will be far reaching consequences for all involved.
There was a lot to like about this book. I think the author has a lovely turn of phrase and captured the remoteness of life on Janus Point very well. Tom was a very well drawn character, although I thought Isabel was less so (this may have been because I far preferred Tom; during the course of the story Isabel’s decisions put me off her). I wanted to read until the end and did so, but I felt the story took a long time to get going, and the final third of the book was strung out more than it had to be. Some of the characters also made strange choices, even taking into account the unusual circumstances that people were coping with.
That all said, it was difficult not to sympathise with everyone involved in such a sad story. I do feel the pace of the storyline plodded in places and a fair chunk could have been cut out of the last section of the book but nonetheless the slow unfolding of what happened somewhat matched the pace of life on Janus Point so maybe this was a deliberate move on the author’s part.
Overall a fairly enjoyable book and I would probably read more by M.L. Stedman.
Between the Pages 