The Lamplighters: Emma Stonex

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The atmosphere that Stonex so cleverly creates is why The Lamplighters reads as more than a mystery novel. The Maiden exists in that liminal spot between land and sea, and the novel exists in a similar space where the worlds of the natural and supernatural dissolve into each other. Bill tells us, “there are keepers who stay so long on the towers they start to hear mermaids.” Do the keepers, driven mad through solitude, imagine the mermaids? Or are their senses sharpened so they can hear better than we can? Helen believes the men’s disappearance is a terrible accident covered up by their employers, Trident. Jenny suspects a strange supernatural event. Who is right? How can we know? The book does not exclude any version of events but treads the line between them with, for the most part, the lightest of footfalls. Seabirds appear like omens, there’s a Silver Man who could be a drug-dealer but is reported to occupy two places at once. Always we have a sense that if you turn around fast enough you might catch sight of … something … out of the corner of your eye.

The Lamplighters - Book Ending Explained - Wrote a Book The Lamplighters - Book Ending Explained - Wrote a Book

The Flannan Isles Vanishing: the power of an enduring mystery and the amazing true story behind The Lamplighters It’s the descriptions, the language, that I think I will remember most about this novel, that and the eerie evocation of a liminal world where we are poised, characters and readers alike, on the cusp of knowing and of not-knowing, of knowing and of not-wanting-to-know. As a mystery it kept me engaged, though I felt that the ‘aha’ moments didn’t always live up to expectation. We find out the true identity of Dan Sharp, for example, right at the end, but I’m not sure it was worth the wait, given keeping him out of the narrative until that point forces some artificiality into the transcripts that grated a little. Another for my TBR list – thanks for the great review – as soon as I saw the word Cornwall you captured my interest – 👩‍🦳📖✔️🦋🧚‍♀️🌈This book appealed to me because I LOVE atmospheric stories, and a bit of Supernatural. The mystery of what might have occurred was intriguing.

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex | Waterstones

The novel concludes with a poignant sense of acceptance and closure, as the characters come to terms with the mysteries and tragedies of the past, finding hope and light in the present and future. Hatred, distrust, lies and an unexpected sort of love binds these women in an elegant novel that is as interested in the notion of hope and acceptance as it is in murder and revenge. As the book unfolds, we see the friendship between the three men grow and deepen, as they work together to keep the lighthouse running and support each other through their personal struggles. Twenty years later a best selling author wants to solve the mystery. He talks to the women left behind and we hear from the men themselves. All hold different parts of the story, things the know, that need to be put together. We also, and I enjoyed this, learn about how the men lived, worked, the setup of their living spaces.A mystery is only a mystery for as long as it remains unsolved. The set-up can carry as many intriguing details as you like, but at the whiff of an answer, it loses its power. My challenge with The Lamplighters was to tread the fine line between committing to what I think happened to the keepers, and leaving enough avenues open for readers to decide on their version of events. While The Lamplighters is in many ways a book about the endurance of the human spirit, it is also about this need in us to find resolution, to reach the truth, and ultimately to throw light on dark places. When I’m ashore I have to pretend to be a man I’m not, part of something I’m not part of. It’s difficult to explain it to normal people. Lighthouse worlds are small. Slow. That’s what other people can’t do: they can’t do things slowly and with meaning… Similar care is evident in the creation of the characters. Helen is central to Sharp’s investigation. She is still alone after 20 years, neither Arthur’s wife or yet his widow, and she is struggling to move on. Although Helen is the one who tells Sharp there must be a rational reason for the men’s disappearance, she’s also the person most haunted by the past. At the outset of the story,“the ghouls continued to slip between her clothes in the wardrobe, making her shiver when she got dressed in the mornings,” an example of the kind of beautiful phrasing that permeates the book and makes it a treat to read. Jenny has her children, and Michelle a whole new family, but Helen only has her memories – and they won’t let her rest. The wives who should’ve have bonded together over this incident are estranged and only one is talking.