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Welcome to Cosybookco’s book club’s first pick for the new year!
“…but that was the thing about light…you don’t need a lot of it.”
— The Lamplighters, Emma Stonex
For me, this book did not disappoint. It’s a dual timeline story inspired by a real life mystery which occurred in the 1900s when two lighthouse keepers in the Outer Hebrides vanished without a trace.
Emma Stonex has loosely used the concept of the mysterious disappearance to inspire The Lamplighters and creates a fictionalised version of what could have happened, though she sets her story sometime later in the 1970s and bases it in Cornwall. However I still thought it was a fascinating idea to explore.
The Maiden Rock is an extremely remote lighthouse, accessible only by boat. When the keepers stationed here begin their watch, they experience almost extreme isolation from the outside world for a number of months, with only the other keepers for company. We follow three men in this story: Arthur, Bill and Vince. When these three keepers disappear the door is locked from the inside and the clocks have stopped – at a time which turns out to have deep significance for the Principal Keeper, suggesting that he may be the one behind the vanishing. Or is he?
Emma Stonex creates a tense and atmospheric story with just the right amount of suspense. I certainly felt like I could never really grasp which direction the story was going to take. We follow two timelines, the first being the lead up to the men’s disappearances. It’s not the quickest of reads; there is a sense of monotony as we read of the men going about their days and see how that begins to impact each man in terms of his own sense of self. Each man has plenty going on behind the scenes, plenty that could be motivation for what happens next, though the author always manages to evade leaning too heavily in one direction.
I thought Emma Stonex did a good job of balancing this mundanity of the day to day with a building sense of anticipation as you wonder when, and how, the disappearance is going to occur.
Through our second timeline we get an insight into the lives of those who have been ‘left behind’ which I appreciated, although I felt those parts could have been shorter. These women have been left with the wondering of what really happened, and have to deal with the aftermath of rumours and suggestions. You see how their relationships have been impacted and how they have each chosen to deal, quite differently, with the element of not knowing.
If you like slow builds, and have the patience or interest to read about the monotony of someone stationed at a lighthouse, with a story that keeps you on your toes in terms of what is going on – this would be a good choice.
A solid four star read.
