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afittingdistraction's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
And I officially have a new favourite book...
I knew it would be my type of story since it combines two of my favourite things lighthouses and books exploring grief. Lighthouses were my first hyperfixation. I grew up on the west coast of Scotland and have such fond memories of staring across the sea at the lighthouses in the distance, imagining that I could see far enough to spot the men that worked there. In fact it became a running joke with my Papa, everytime he saw me he'd ask “what tie has the man in the lighthouse got on today?”. My older brother even has a lighthouse tattoed on him to represent the two of us.
The Lamplighters is a fictional story about the disappearance of a Cornish lighthouse's keepers told in two timelines 20 years apart. In 1972 we get to know our 3 men in the run-up to the day of the accident and then in 1992 the story is told from the point of view of their loved ones that they left behind as they're being interviewed by a writer who wants to cover the disappearances in his new novel in the hopes that he might unearth something previously overlooked.
Despite the bouncing around the story flows seamlessly! I read this via audiobook and need to give huge props to the two voice actors as they handle this magnificently. Each character is given a distinct voice and allowed their personality to shine through. To the point where it didn't feel like acting and almost felt like a true crime podcast & I mean that in the best way.
This book is one that's hard to categorise, sure its a mystery but it's so much more than that and what really makes it is the FANTASTIC character writing, especially when it goes hand in hand with the book's exploration of grief. In how we all grieve differently and there's no one right way to do so. It was so interesting how this tragic event of losing their loved ones should have brought the three woman together but instead it's the thing that drove them apart. Usually i hate miscommunication in books. It gets on my nerves and makes me want to take the characters and shake them like 'Everything could be solved if you just listened and talked to each other!' but it worked so well in this, mainly because there was no 'right' person. No good guy. They were all so heartbreakingly human and it was so realistic to the point where i had to remind myself that it was fictional at times.
I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed this one. In fact I decided to space out the audiobook and only allow myself to listen to an hour a day so I didnt binge it all in one go. I even bought a physical copy once I'd finished. It drew me in and and I couldn't put it down. Seriously pick this one up, I highly HIGHLY recommend it!!
Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan UK Audio for the audio-arc to review.
I knew it would be my type of story since it combines two of my favourite things lighthouses and books exploring grief. Lighthouses were my first hyperfixation. I grew up on the west coast of Scotland and have such fond memories of staring across the sea at the lighthouses in the distance, imagining that I could see far enough to spot the men that worked there. In fact it became a running joke with my Papa, everytime he saw me he'd ask “what tie has the man in the lighthouse got on today?”. My older brother even has a lighthouse tattoed on him to represent the two of us.
The Lamplighters is a fictional story about the disappearance of a Cornish lighthouse's keepers told in two timelines 20 years apart. In 1972 we get to know our 3 men in the run-up to the day of the accident and then in 1992 the story is told from the point of view of their loved ones that they left behind as they're being interviewed by a writer who wants to cover the disappearances in his new novel in the hopes that he might unearth something previously overlooked.
Despite the bouncing around the story flows seamlessly! I read this via audiobook and need to give huge props to the two voice actors as they handle this magnificently. Each character is given a distinct voice and allowed their personality to shine through. To the point where it didn't feel like acting and almost felt like a true crime podcast & I mean that in the best way.
This book is one that's hard to categorise, sure its a mystery but it's so much more than that and what really makes it is the FANTASTIC character writing, especially when it goes hand in hand with the book's exploration of grief. In how we all grieve differently and there's no one right way to do so. It was so interesting how this tragic event of losing their loved ones should have brought the three woman together but instead it's the thing that drove them apart. Usually i hate miscommunication in books. It gets on my nerves and makes me want to take the characters and shake them like 'Everything could be solved if you just listened and talked to each other!' but it worked so well in this, mainly because there was no 'right' person. No good guy. They were all so heartbreakingly human and it was so realistic to the point where i had to remind myself that it was fictional at times.
I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed this one. In fact I decided to space out the audiobook and only allow myself to listen to an hour a day so I didnt binge it all in one go. I even bought a physical copy once I'd finished. It drew me in and and I couldn't put it down. Seriously pick this one up, I highly HIGHLY recommend it!!
Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan UK Audio for the audio-arc to review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Minor: Suicide attempt
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