The Lamplighters
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By Emma Stonex
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1 review
The Sunday Times Bestseller
‘The Lamplighters is a whodunnit, horror novel, ghost story and fantastically gripping psychological investigation rolled into one’ – The Guardian
Cornwall, 1972. Three keepers vanish from a remote lighthouse, miles from the shore. The entrance door is locked from the inside. The clocks have stopped. The weather log describes a mighty storm, but the skies have been clear all week.
What happened to those three men, out on the tower? The heavy sea whispers their names. The tide shifts beneath the swell, drowning ghosts. Can their secrets ever be recovered from the waves?
Twenty years later, the women they left behind are still struggling to move on. Helen, Jenny and Michelle should have been united by the tragedy, but instead it drove them apart. And then a writer approaches them. He wants to give them a chance to tell their side of the story. But only in confronting their darkest fears can the truth begin to surface . . .
Rich with the salty air of the Cornish coast, The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex is an intoxicating and suspenseful mystery, inspired by true events. An unforgettable story of love and grief that explores the way our fears blur the line between the real and the imagined.
‘A mystery, a love story and a ghost story, all at once’ – SJ Watson, author of Before I Go To Sleep
‘Riveting’ – The Independent
‘Excellent’ – The Observer
‘A triumph’ – Daily Mail
Reviews
St Just Thursday Evening Reading Group 3rd March 2022.
The lamplighters. Emma Stonex.
Most of the comments about this book were that readers enjoyed it, and found it very compelling, with the suspense maintained all the way through. Everyone appreciated the writing style, and the descriptions. Several people mentioned that they liked the way the plot was developed through the various characters - this episodic style was challenging to begin with, some readers found, but became more satisfying.
Everyone found the content of the story interesting: the lighthouse keepers’ lives with weeks and months of isolation in each other’s enforced company; the lack of privacy; the monotony; the dangers faced. The lives of the families ashore were even more fascinating – the way the women’s lives interacted with each other; the differences between them; and the comments about family life when one parent is away for extended periods, the sadness of parting and the reintegration process on his return; the close communities they lived in, which could be both supportive and intrusive; the public faces of these women and their defensive strategies.
In this case, one or two readers guessed what Arthur and Helen’s trouble was, and strongly perceived Arthur’s mental health issues; they disliked Bill and suspected him from the outset; and felt sorry for Vinnie who had obviously had a bad deal from his earliest days. Communication between the various parties, of course, was seen as a problem. Everyone was interested in the engineer, Sid, who may, or may not, have visited the lighthouse to help with repairs.
Regarding the explanation for the keepers’ disappearances, most readers found this plausible, though how it fitted with the tale of Flannan Isle which inspired the book was less certain. One reader expressed the view that she would have preferred the whole thing to be left a mystery as in the original.
An interesting book, then, not a ghost story as the cover suggests, but ‘a story of memories and “spirit of place”’.
This book was read during February 2022 and the continuing restrictions due to the Covid-19 virus, and so the discussion was not 'live' as usual, but took place via a Facebook group, email and telephone conversations.
