The Light Between Oceans

This is a sad, sad story.

I was pretty sure it was going to be a sad, sad story when I saw it on the list of recommended books in the August issue of Oprah magazine. Oprah doesn't really do happy.

But this is sad. Very sad.

Here's the plot: World War I is over and Tom Sherbourne is coming home. He's seen death and now he wants some peace. He finds a job as a lighthouse keeper on a small deserted island and soon finds a lovely wife to come with him. All seems as if life will now be different for Tom, but then his wife, Isabel, loses three babies, all born too soon.

One night a boat appears on the shore of the island. On the boat are a dead man and a crying infant.

An answered prayer?

That is what Isabel thinks, and she convinces Tom to bury the dead man and keep the baby girl.

You know this is not going to be a good idea, don't you?

It's a powerful story, full of the miseries of this life, but also full of the stark beauty that comes out of facing the truth of the miseries.