THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS BY M.L. STEDMAN  HISTORICAL NOVEL SET IN THE REMOTE WILDS OF AUSTRALIA
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Tom Sherbourne is a loner. He may have come through the war physically intact, but emotionally, its a part of his life he closes off. As the new light keeper on Janus Island, Tom welcomes the solitude. But while on shore leave, he meets Isabel. A beautiful girl full of life and love, she makes an impression on Tom, and he on her. So much is their first meeting impressed on her that during one of his rare shore leaves, she proposes they marry. When time doesnt waver her affection, the pair marries and move to the island, where they happily begin their life. But the future suffers one too many losses until a baby, adrift in a boat, arrives on Janus, and brings with her healing, hope and heartbreak.

Reading this book is sure to evoke a cacophony of emotions, bundled with confusion. This book is like a contradiction of the depth of sorrow, unbridled joy, and the choices we make while influenced by these emotions. Speaking only for myself, I don't think this book is my cup of tea. That said, I understand why this novel received so many prestigious endorsements. The reasons its not my kind of read would organize a list, but the primary of which is the writing style. While the prose is nothing to diminish, it was the style the book is constructed from that put me off.

"Scars are just another kind of memory. - The Light Between Oceans

The book backpedals from its present timeline a few too many times, a ploy which never ceased to jerk me out of the story (usually just when Ive adjusted to the present pace). This is made all the harder since I didn't feel like I learned a great deal in these treks into the past. Once it does return to the present, there continues to be several instances of past history revisited. While the bittersweet notions and consequences that stem from them are the result of characters choices, the sting is still that.

Despite this, I do admire (as I mention above) Stedmans prose. Its anything but unpleasant. The easy way in in which she uses words to string the story together makes for easy reading, and I admire how she give context to things. (The way she explains a feeling or likens something to a thing is to be applauded.) The setting is also a pro. I don't read many books set outside the U.S (not because I don't want to, my genres just don't go this route), so reading about the wilds of Australia is enchanting.

Sympathy will be a common feeling as you read this book. The characters make choices that assist in forever changing lives, both for the better and worse. Despite this, no one is bad, and while I feel like the story arrives full circle in the end, its a bittersweet one. It may be done in an unsuspecting, quiet way, but "The Light Between Oceans" tugs at our heartstrings, and leaves everyone in a state of discord.  Some of the emotions are stifled because there isn't real forgiveness by the time the book ends, and if nothing else were, that alone may leave many a reader feeling a sense of profound loss.

Content: there are instances of profanity (including an f-word), and comments about a married couple making love.
480315
A wonderful and insightful read. A well written biography of the remote Australian outback a century ago which captures the characters of the remote  pioneer men and their ambivalence to the prospects of a female arriving to live among them.

This book also has humorous incidents as the people cope with the challenges of living in the north of the Northern Territory and the immense isolation of the inhabitants.  There are also descriptions of the immense sadness experienced when mates die.
1225025
Love, hatred, lies, truth, loss, reconciliation, all wrapped in exquisite details of nature and life on the Australian west coast. Descriptions of life around one, such as the spider in the jail cell whose wrapped corpses hang from its web like ornaments on a Christmas tree bring poetry and symbolism for the reader to delve into a deeper meaning of many everyday images.  This is a beautifully written, moving novel.
2228210
A great book to read about sisters in the harsh country of ours in the beginning of the moving west. The girls didn't trust easily their experiences with other people finding real differences between them and their families. A must read for those who enjoy historical western romance kindle books from Amazon at a special price and from a delightful author who keeps me entertained throughout the book.
1747788
Excellent book could not put it down well written and very descriptive of the land in Australia great characters also
1375069
Aljaz Cosini, a Tasmanian, has signed on as lead guide on a rafting trip down the Franklin River in Tasmania.  Cosini has been away from his homeland for a decade and is not in the best of shape for such a grueling job, but he's broke and needs a job.  His co-guide, Cockroach, is young and strong but doesn't know the river at all.  Still, it's a week and they need the money.  They collect their group who are a typical group of tourists and set out.  But the river is in the mood for blood.  The weather turns and steady rain causes the river to rise precipitously  When one of the tourists makes a foolhardy move, Aljaz jumps into the river to save him.  Instead, he finds himself head down stuck between two rocks, slowly drowning.

As his last minutes tick away, Aljaz finds himself having a series of visions.  He sees his life rush past, with jobs from footballer to sailor to handyman.  His marriage to the only woman he has ever really loved flashes past with the reason it failed in the biggest tragedy of his life.  He not only sees his own life, but that of his ancestors.  That includes his parents.  Harry marries an Eastern European woman he finds and falls in love with in Italy in a misbegotten attempt to become a sewing machine salesman.  They return instead to Tasmania where they live out their lives, their closest friend the midwife who assists at Aljaz's birth.  But Aljaz sees even further back to ancestors such as Ned Quade, who comes to Tasmania as the result of transportation for a crime he doesn't even remember.  He also has visions of the Aboriginal woman whose place in his genetic background is never talked about.

Richard Flanagan is acknowledged as one of Australia's premier authors.  He won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel, The Narrow Road To The Deep North, an exploration of the Australian experience during the second World War and the Japanese POW camps.  This was Richard Flanagan's second novel.  As always, he explores the history and lush environment of the land he lives in and loves.  He captures the beauty and the despair that is the characteristic of the people who live there.  He explores the exploitation of both Tasmania's natural resources and the native people who are supplanted there by those who come and conquer the land.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.
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By Evelyn:

Jenny Lloyd has successfully re-created the past with Leap the Wild Water, a past where women are exploited and blamed, where condemning religion persecutes an unmarried mother, and the shame in the community drives a family to desperate measures.

Primarily the book deals with the relationship between Megan and her brother Morgan, and their selfish evil mother. At a time where a woman was repressed, viewed as the servant of the family and not allowed a life of her own, Megan struggles for freedom.

I found the book was a page turner as Ms Lloyd skilfully drives the story along. I was drawn into the lives of Megan and Morgan, the harshness of life in 19th century rural Wales, and of their terribly lazy, selfish, lying 'Mam'. The writing is atmospheric. I could see the misty hills of Wales. And the social mores of the time were agonisingly drawn in their accuracy.

And I had my heart in my mouth for the ending.

I liked it very much and would thoroughly recommend it.
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Monday, December 21, 2015
Carry Me Home by Dorothy Adamek,  2015
Blue Wren Shallows trilogy, Book One
An Australian historical romance set in the pioneering era of the 1870s, on Victorias majestic Phillip Island.

~*~
I have long awaited this beautiful novel of hope and love to become her very own.
~*~

Finella Mayfield may think she has come to a detour, but indeed it is her true destiny, hoped for, just for her. Her descendants will long love her heritage ~ built upon the desires of her heart.

  Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
  Psalm 119:111 KJV

Truth prevails.

As irony might profess itself, arrogant and self-defeating, it will arise as the mist across the waters, alive and real and fulfilling.

Wrapped within her wedding ribbon of fine delicacy, her Everlasting journal became remnants of a crossing she was ne'er to forget for the sorrow it brought with it. So necessary to continue on, in the long moments after, may gleaning be made of truth scattered across the waters.

A beautiful story of discovered hope. A brilliance of desire coming forth loving others for who they are. Discovering who "I am" being unraveled from the past.

The days are cold now, as the sun glints across the water. Uncertain of her next step, Finella Mayfield leans on what has been. The comfort hearth. Pride set aside, she sets forth alone with no one to lean upon. Futile beginnings turned to ash left to heap against the wind. Chills surfaced as she remembered. Tossing cares aside, she returned to the bidding draw of yesterdays. Comfort, how strange, for it was cold and brittle there; undetermined worth of today left to fade in the shadows of regret and turmoil she had thought left behind. Arid breath, soothing winds of the soul, stilled and held at bay until another day, captive by love. She yearned for what might have been, unable to see the treasures of today. No hope arose, vision scant. Shallows...

I loved how Finella finds Truth in her days that goes beyond finery into the heart. I held my breath and coached her to find her way and not become subservient to what she had known. Are we truly blinded to what others see so clearly circling around us? Molly was so vital to the story, her love and trust building and her memory so outstanding in bringing truth to the surface. I was a little concerned about Aunt Sarah's visit until she leaves dominance behind and sees life as it is. Have we carried through a lifetime perceived conversations, until another adds to it from their reflection that completely changes what was said? And Shadrach Jones, Molly's brother, so patient as he goes about his days trying to make them better. How often do we have expectations we do not see matched to what is before us? This is a story I will be reading again to savor each detail anew. I especially like the journaling throughout. What a pleasant way to reveal Finella's heart's longings.

***Thank you to author Dorothy Adamek for inviting me to be part of the unveiling of book one in the Blue Wren Shallows trilogy and sending a review copy to me. This review was written in my own words. No other compensation was received.***

Watch for Book Two ~ Carry Me Away
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Enjoyed this book a lot. Beautifully written and a fast paced read. Couldn't put the book down! Although the actual places in the book were fictional, it was interesting to learn about that region of Australia during the post WWI era. I really enjoyed watching each character develop as well.
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The story begins with the discovery of a small boat washed upon the shore of an isolated island that contains a dead man and a crying baby girl. When the lighthouse keeper and his wife decide to secretly bury the body and raise the child as their own, we know that trouble will follow.

The descriptive writing brings the setting of an isolated island off the coast of Western Australia after World War I to life. The characters are sympathetic and the writing captures their desperation and emotions.

The ending, while bittersweet, is satisfying.
1356526
Very good reading...story was interesting and kept me intrigued. I look forward to more stories from this new author.  This would make a great movie. The light between oceans has been recommend reading for my book club.
182312
A harsh bleak read.  This book goes deep into nature, living out in the wilderness and how dangerous it can be.  Some people love it.

The book is told in a different way by its two protagonists, elderly Berit Lovig, middle aged Gus Eide.  Berit tells readers her story, Gus tells Berit his story.  Elderly Harry Eide, suffering from dementia, wanders off into the wilderness and is never found.  The story is set in Gunflint, Minnesota, a small town in northern Minnesota.

Berit Lovig has been in love with Harry since both were sixteen.  His son, Gus, is a high school history teacher with a lovely wife.  Gus tells his story to Berit about how, when he was eighteen and should have been going off to college, he and his father lived in wild country for several hard, bleak desolate months after Harry's wife left him for another man.  Much of the story is about living in a small shack on the borderlands hunting and fishing.

 Berit tells of her love for Harry.  She works for his hated mother so Harry felt he could never wed her so married another.  This marriage was a disaster.  Love one, marry another.  Berit never married, Harry was her one and only love

After Harry returns from his first wilderness trip, on this adventure Harry and Gus nearly died, Berit and Harry live together.  Not much is told about this part of their lives.  This is a tale of adventure, but is sad and bleak.  Berit envied Harry's wife her children, but never had any of her own though when Harry and Berit lived together she wasn't too old.

It seemed when Harry was demented, he returned to the part of the world he loved.  Gus always wondered why his father insisted on his son going with him on the first trip, but then Gus felt he did know.  Gus is a high school history teacher, a down to earth profession.  He never did become  a lover of the wild as his father was.

The cold can be felt throughout the book where winter reigns as king.  A good read for nature lovers.
375366
This is a very compelling novel that jumps right into the story when a lighthouse keeper and his wife discover a boat containing a dead man and live baby girl.  They are a childless couple, and they decide to pass the baby off as their own.  Set on a remote island off the coast of western Australia just after World War I (the husband is a veteran still suffering from PTSD and has a dysfunctional family), they get away with it for a while, but then their deception comes crashing down on them.  It is the authors first novel, and it is very impressive.  She grew up in western Australia, and her descriptions are very detailed.
4484594
This is truly a sweeping saga of the Massingham family and Australia from its youth to its maturity.  The in depth characterizations of the master of Yarrabe and his young and virginal wife make this story a triumph in its genre.  You can almost touch the red dirt, feel the seething heat and the dusty wind as we see the new country in its most vulnerable and vivid glory.  It is highly recommended for lovers of historical novels.
2853922
From the ancient past, when the gods of the Picts, the Vikings, and the new Christian religion vied for power on a small island off the coast of Scotland, springs the tale of a Pict woman and a Viking man whose lives came together during a tragic raid when they were children. The story of the struggles and separation their deep passion endures until they meet a tragic end, is mingled with a contemporary tale. After her father's death,  a daughter, embarks on a journey to discover what happened in his life, a man who had come to be almost a stranger to her. This, along with ancient finds she uncovers, and paranormal experiences with the ghost of those ancient lovers, leads her onto her own path of self-discovery and...love.

This is international bestselling author Posie Graeme-Evans's latest novel, released June, 26th, 2012. Here is a book trailer of The Island House.[...]

In addition to her career as novelist, she worked in the Australian film and television industry as an editor, director, writer, producer and executive producer. She may be best known as the creator and producer of the well loved television show, McLeod's Daughters.

The island house is a haunting, mystical yet realistic and well researched historical novel.  The story easily swept me up and took me on a wonderful ride. I will remember these characters for a long time. I highly recommend The Island House.
871643
I really enjoyed the book. I was intrigued by the setting and enjoyed the what I assume are Aussie terms for things. I look forward to more.
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I chose this rating as  the story line held my attention to the end. The main character, John Smith evokes sympathy as he confronts the rawness of life at a young age. His desire for adventure will strike a chord in those seeking greener grass in faraway lands.

I liked the detailed description of contrasting landscapes , wild-life and differing cultures.
 I didn't like the use of bad language although appreciate it was fitting for the type of people represented in the book.

 This book will appeal to travellers especially those who love the sport of fishing!