Title: THE LAMPLIGHTERS
Author: Emma Stonex
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Read: January 2021
Expected publication: 4 March 2021
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Book Description:
They say we'll never know what
happened to those men.
They say the sea keeps its secrets...
Cornwall, 1972. Three keepers vanish from a remote lighthouse, miles from the
shore. The entrance door is locked from the inside. The clocks have stopped.
The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a mighty storm, but the skies have
been clear all week.
What happened to those three men, out on the tower? The heavy sea whispers
their names. The tide shifts beneath the swell, drowning ghosts. Can their
secrets ever be recovered from the waves?
Twenty years later, the women they left behind are still struggling to move on.
Helen, Jenny and Michelle should have been united by the tragedy, but instead
it drove them apart. And then a writer approaches them. He wants to give them a
chance to tell their side of the story. But only in confronting their darkest fears
can the truth begin to surface . . .
My musings:
The unsolved mystery of the disappearance of Eilean
More’s three lighthouse keepers in 1900 remains one of history’s most
intriguing puzzles: what happened to the men, and how do you explain the
strange coincidences that defy a logical explanation? Emma Stonex has run with
the idea to create her latest novel and is ready to offer a plausible theory.
Even though her story is set in Cornwall in the 1970’s and features fictional
characters, it bears a lot of resemblance to the Flannan Isles mystery.
It isn’t an easy feat to take a true
historic event and transform it into a gripping, suspenseful mystery, but the
author has done just that. Told with the help of dual timelines and multiple
characters, including the three men and their partners, the story gave a
fascinating insight into the daily life of one of history’s most romantic
professions: that of the lighthouse keeper. Be warned that Stonex will dispel
any illusions of an idyllic lifestyle on small islands or in the middle of the
sea. Having hosted such romantic notions myself, I was surprised by
descriptions of the austere and regimented lifestyle of the lighthouse keepers
as they spent many weeks cut off from isolation in their concrete towers,
sending out warning signals to passing seafarers. It was a pleasant surprise to
also get the perspectives of the wives and partners they left behind on land,
tending the homes and children whilst their men were absent for prolonged periods
of time, missing many of the special occasions that normally mark our routines:
birthdays, Christmases and other family affairs.
Whilst the 1970s timeline slowly
unravels the events leading up to the men’s fateful disappearance, the present
narrative shows us the incident from the perspective of the widows who never
got any satisfactory answers for their husband’s fates. In fact, the lighthouse
company has done its utmost to keep them quiet, paying out bereavement pay in
exchange for their silences. But when a famous mystery author shows an interest
in telling the three men’s story, some secrets are shaken loose ...
I admit that I struggled initially
with the wives’ narratives told in “interview style”, as they are narrating
their experiences and theories to an unknown person. However, as the story drew
me in, it got easier to overlook the unusual style and just go along with the
flow – I was so intent on getting answers! And whilst the author’s
interpretations of the events may or may not be closely related to the truth,
her theory was certainly plausible and went a long way towards explaining away
some of the mysterious happenings in the lighthouse. I loved how the men’s
backstories bled into their current situation in the lighthouse, and the
dynamics between the three very different personalities trapped in close
confines in the middle of the ocean.
The author’s observations about the
sea and life near a treacherous coast added a unique backdrop to this
fascinating story, and readers who love an atmospheric setting will appreciate
her vivid descriptions of life inside “The Maiden”.
All in all, THE LAMPLIGHTERS was a
fascinating mystery weaving true historic facts into a skilfully constructed
tale that captivated as well as intrigued me from start to finish. I loved the
true historic facts that play a big part in the novel, and the author’s final
tying together of all the threads, which was very satisfying and made this a
joy to read.
Thank
you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the free electronic copy of this novel and
for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
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