He and his young wife Isabel live in almost total isolation, apart from the supply boat which arrives regularly every three months. Isabel was born in the mainland town of Point Partageuse and the couple return there on leave for a few weeks once every three years. The couple are eager to start a family, but after three miscarriages, Isabel begins to despair. Two weeks after her third loss, however, a small boat washes up on Janus. It is carrying a dead man and a crying infant, whom Tom rescues immediately.

As Tom prepares to record the finding and take necessary action as regulations require, Isabel not only begins feeding and looking after the baby, but gradually persuades him not to report the incident at all. He is so torn by Isabel’s grief and loss that eventually, against his better judgement, he agrees. He buries the man on the far side of the island and watches Isabel bloom again as she mothers this beautiful baby girl, surely sent by God to compensate for their loss.

However, the battle of deception and hiding the truth begin to take a heavy toll on the couple as they discover to Isabel’s horror, that the baby’s mother whom they presumed drowned, is alive and well and living in Point Partageuse. The story skillfully charts the gradual descent into the anguish and suffering caused by both the inability and unwillingness to recognise, confront and confess the truth of the situation.

M. L. Stedman weaves a compassionate and intelligent tale of love in all its complexity in this compelling debut novel. Even though your heart breaks for Isabel and Tom, it will break again for the grandparents and even more so for the true mother and the child herself. Yet there is an ever steady beacon of light which shines all the way through to the satisfying and plausible conclusion… a highly captivating read.

Light Between Oceans

M. L. Stedman

Vintage Books