Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - The Lamplighters

When book club nominated a book with a lighthouse on the cover, obviously I had to vote for it! The Lamplighters actually has two covers, both with lighthouses, but which give wildly different ideas of what the book is going to be like, so I was curious to see which one would prove more accurate.

Like most of the lighthouse books on this blog, The Lamplighters is historical fiction, set when lighthouses were still manned rather than automatic, but it’s more recent than most, only going back to the 1970s. What also sets it apart is that it’s about a tower lighthouse, jutting directly out of the sea, where there isn’t space for keepers to bring their wives and families with them. Perhaps that was why it was difficult to keep the threads of the marriages straight. Arthur-and-Helen and Bill-and-Jenny merged into such a shapeless muddle that I had to make a note in my reading notebook which I referred back to every time there was a chapter from one of the wives’ perspectives.

Even after finishing The Lamplighters, it’s not entirely clear what happened in a couple of of the plots. Emma Stonex was clearly keeping information back from her readers, raising questions which you’d hope would be answered by the conclusion to the story. Except, several of them weren’t. Maybe it was intentional, because real life rarely offers neatly-wrapped solutions to every question, but in a novel billing itself as a mystery, it was more frustrating than thought-provoking.

Those plots which did feel complete were enjoyable, particularly the stories of those left behind: Jenny, Helen and the novelist Dan Martin. (Michelle, despite being the most distinct of the female characters, sadly got a bit abandoned.) Bill’s storyline could have been more effectively handled, because the bare bones of it were interesting.

There was certainly a lot going on in The Lamplighters, arguably too much because no single plot or detail really got the attention and weight that it deserved. Maybe a less complex structure would’ve delivered the story with more impact. While I’ll be keeping this for lighthouse reasons, I won’t necessarily be running out to buy more books by Emma Stonex, unless one catches my interest or comes highly recommended.

Content Warnings

jesshindes's review

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

'The Lamplighters' tells the story of the 1972 disappearance of three keepers from a lighthouse off the coast of Cornwall, doing so through the multiple narrative perspectives not only of the keepers themselves but of the three women left behind them: two wives, and a girlfriend. The narrative also hops around in time, from the lead-up to the men's disappearance to a period twenty years later when an author writing a book on what has happened gets in touch with the women concerned to ask for their side of the story.

I had high hopes for this one, which came decorated with all the usual quotes about how gripping it was (including one from Hilary Mantel!) but for some reason it never quite grabbed me. The book pivots on the central mystery of the men's disappearance, and there's some question about whether it's supernatural or natural along with the obvious whodunnit element, but the whole thing had strong vibes to me of an ITV Sunday night thriller, maybe a three-part adaptation, a few people from Line of Duty in it, maybe Keeley Hawes, you get my drift. Which is fine, but probably goes to say that all of the characters felt a bit thin - which is a problem in a book which spent a lot of time on character work and relationships. There were some moments that I liked - some stuff about the relationships between the keepers and their wives, the bits that veered closest to the supernatural - but ultimately I felt like the whole thing was a little wishy-washy, that it didn't commit to the weirdness (unlike Our Wives Under the Sea, which does the nautical mystery thing in a much more satisfying, stranger way) and that too many of the revelations fell flat. With that said, I think on TV it might work, so if it pans out that way I will watch it!

Content Warnings

heini's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"Jos hän olisi Maidenissa, voisin kertoa hänelle sellaista, mitä en milloinkaan voinut mantereella kertoa."

Mysteerinen, yliluonnollisella vihjaileva Majakanvartijat on kirja psyykestä, menetyksestä, puhumattomuudesta ja yksinäisyydestä.

Majakanvartijat, inspiroituneena tositapahtumista, kertoo kolmesta (Arthur, Bill, Vince) kasuunimajakalta kadonneesta miehestä ja heidän jälkeensä jättämistään. Kerronnassa hypitään enimmäkseen katoamisvuoden 1972 ja vuoden 1992 välillä, jolloin äänensä saa kuuluviin niin majakanvartijat kuin heidän kumppaninsa.

Katoamisesta 20 vuotta myöhemmin eräs kirjailija haluaa selvittää tapauksen ja haastattelee miesten kumppaneita - yksinäisiä, syyttäviä ja katkeroituneitakin Heleniä ja Jennyä sekä nuoremman miehen tyttöystävää Michelleä, joka elää tyhjähköä perhe-elämää ensirakkaus aina sydämessään. Jokaisella on vain puoli tarinaa, josta siitäkään he eivät osaa tai pysty kertomaan kaikkea.

Majakoiden ja niiden vartijoiden elämä oli kauniisti kuvattu - yksin oloa majakassa ja yksinäisyyttä mantereella. En ollut aiemmin ajatellut, mutta hyvin kuvattu oli myös miten naiset sitoutuivat (joutuivat sitoutumaan) siihen elämään, joka työkomentojen mukaan kului rauhassa ja rauhattomuudessa.

Meni kyllä vähän yli hilseen osa jutuista.

Esim. Sid, Valkoinen varis, hopea salkkumies ja muutenkin lintusymboliikka. Tiedän merilintuja pidettävän kuolleiden merimiesten (merten miesten) sieluina, mutta merkitys mietitytti muissa tilanteissa, joihin tuo tulkinta ei sopinut.

Osiltaan sen takia, että henkilöiden kerrontaäänet eivät olleet tarpeeksi erilaisia, joten piti pinnistää muistiaan että kuka mainitsi mitä ja milloin. Ja miksi - jolloin hämmennystä lisäsi se, että kirjan mysteerisyyttä ylläpitää puolikkaat viittaukset johonkin asiaan X, jota (ehkä) selvitetään vähän uudelleen 30 sivun päässä.

Ihan viihdyttävä lukukokemus, kun en tiennyt millainen kirja oikein oli tyyliltään tai genreltään, niin piti se jännityksessä. Hyvä kun en tiennyt kirjasta mitään muuta kuin että löysin sen kirjaston "majakat"-hausta luettavaksi (kirjan inspiraationa toiminut vuoden 1900 keissi oli toki etäisesti tuttu) - täten henkilöhahmoille ja tarinalle jäi vapaus olla mitä vain.

Pelkäsin, että loppu lässähtäisi mutta oli se sopiva loppu - ja heräsi kysymys (vielä enemmän) epäluotettavasta kertojasta.

"Helenin mielestä viihdyn paremmin tornissa kuin maissa, mikä saattaa pitää paikkaansa. Mantereella elämä ei maistu siltä kuin pitäisi. Kaiken epävarmuus saa minut tolaltani. Puhelimet soivat äkkiarvaamatta. Paikallisissa puodeissa myydään kahdenlaista maitoa, enkä osaa päättää kumpaa ostaisin. --
Maissa joudun teeskentelemään, olen olevinani joku vieras henkilö ja osa kokonaisuutta, johon en kuulu. On vaikea selittää sitä tavallisille ihmisille. He eivät innostuisi aamuvahtivuoron loputtomasta hiljaisuudesta eivätkä ymmärtäisi, miten joku voi pohtia päivätolkulla hammasahvenen valmistamista. Majakoiden maailma on niin pieni. Hidas. Siihen muut ihmiset eivät kykene: he eivät osaa tehdä asioita hitaasti ja keskittyneesti.
Täällä pääkoppani toimii toisella tavalla. Maissa se tavallaan nukahtaa, ei ole yhtä terävä kuin nyt. --"

"Jotkut tottuvat häkkielämään ja toiset eivät. Sitä katsotan pahalla, jos sietää sitä hyvin. Tiedätkö? Ikään kuin ainoa oikea elämä tapahtuisi kalterien ulkopuolella.
Kerron sinulle jotain, Bill: tunsin itseni vapaaksi koko sen ajan, jonka istuin kakkuani. Kertaakaan ei tuntunut ettenkö olisi vapaa. Kyse on siis muustakin, eikö? Sitä minä vaan meinaan. Jollei viihdy tornissa, se ei johdu siitä, että tornissa olisi jotakin vikaa."

Content Warnings

nicoles_reading_corner's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

danfoskett's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

booksandmo's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

abbie_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

If you’re looking for a haunting, atmospheric read set at sea then look no further than The Lamplighters! It’s not haunting in the 👻 sense, but there’s a definite haunted atmosphere, the haunting of a cryptic mystery gone unsolved for too long.
.
This book draws inspiration from the disappearance of three lighthouse-keepers in the Hebrides in 1900, but this is set in Cornwall in 1972. Three keepers vanish into thin air, leaving their wives and girlfriends wondering over their fate. Those left behind have been paid well in compensation by Trident House, the lighthouse-keepers’ employers, to make sure they don’t go digging. But when a thriller writer starts writing a new book trying to solve the mystery, old ghosts are resurrected.
.
It flits back and forth between the keepers’ POVs in 1972 and the women left behind in 1992, and while I enjoyed both narratives, it was that of the present-day(ish) women that had me truly gripped. How do you move on with your life with the question of your partner’s fate constantly looming over you? How could you go on living a normal life without knowing what happened to your loved one, without any closure? Emma Stonex explores this, and the answer is - not easily!
.
I’m not sure how satisfied I was by the ending. It wasn’t bad by any means, I just didn’t have that feeling of a story wrapped up - maybe I’d even have preferred it if it weren’t wrapped up!! I do like an ambiguous ending.
.
But the writing, atmosphere and characters - I can’t fault those!

Content Warnings

nialiversuch's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

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