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A review by leahhateshardbacks
The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Oof I feel very tight knocking a 0.5 off from this but I promise I have my reasons...
•••
This was a brilliant book. Considering I was desperate for something to listen to one day and this was the first reasonably interesting thing I found available to check out on BorrowBox, this was much better than I expected. Firstly, it's a good story. One day in the 1970s on a lighthouse rock off the coast of Cornwall, 3 lighthouse keepers miraculously disappeared. 20 years later we are following the men's wives, demonstrating the ripple effect of displaced grief and unknowing. Splitting the narrative between a present 1990s and a scene-of-the-crime 1970s, this story unwound perfectly. It's really about the characters. The way they deal with every day life, the way they interact with one another, what they want versus what they have, and what grudges they hold - against others but also themselves. I thought the character voices were so distinct and recognisable (and the audiobook narrating was superb... damn) and everyone had such dynamic and realist personalities... you were scared of or sceptical about or disappointed in them, but you also felt so deeply about them and could understand their decisions. Up until the last I'd say 30 pages of the book this was a 5* - so what's up with knocking off that sliver?
•••
Well, the history of Tommy isn't introduced to us until right at the end of the story. It's no surprise, really, as it is Arthur's grief for Tommy that is the catalyst for what happened that fateful day on the Maiden Rock, so perhaps the author thought that if the Tommy storyline was introduced earlier the readers wouldn't have stuck around to figure out the mystery? It totally made sense for Helen and Arthur to have this big unspeakable thing between them but because the actual reason for this was introduced so late in the book it felt a bit like a cheap aha! moment. I also didn't like the fact that it was supernatural as opposed to something that was just affecting Arthur psychologically, which would've made much more sense for the book's themes - a mental, private, internal haunting... not a physical haunting.
•••
This was a brilliant book. Considering I was desperate for something to listen to one day and this was the first reasonably interesting thing I found available to check out on BorrowBox, this was much better than I expected. Firstly, it's a good story. One day in the 1970s on a lighthouse rock off the coast of Cornwall, 3 lighthouse keepers miraculously disappeared. 20 years later we are following the men's wives, demonstrating the ripple effect of displaced grief and unknowing. Splitting the narrative between a present 1990s and a scene-of-the-crime 1970s, this story unwound perfectly. It's really about the characters. The way they deal with every day life, the way they interact with one another, what they want versus what they have, and what grudges they hold - against others but also themselves. I thought the character voices were so distinct and recognisable (and the audiobook narrating was superb... damn) and everyone had such dynamic and realist personalities... you were scared of or sceptical about or disappointed in them, but you also felt so deeply about them and could understand their decisions. Up until the last I'd say 30 pages of the book this was a 5* - so what's up with knocking off that sliver?
•••
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape