The story starts in 1926 when a
boat is washed up on the shore of Janus, a small island off the coast of
Western Australia. Tom Sherbourne is the
lighthouse keeper on the island. He and
his wife, Isabel, are the island’s only occupants. The boat holds a dead man and a crying
baby. Isabel has just lost her third
baby. Her motherly instincts kick in as
she nurses the baby. She persuades Tom
to delay telling the authorities reasoning that the mother must have drowned
and the baby will end up in an orphanage.
The story then goes back eight
years with Tom home from the war, trying desperately to forget what he
witnessed on the battlefields of France.
He seeks peace and tranquillity and is looking forward to his posting on
Janus. Before taking up his post he
spends some time in Partageuse, the town on the mainland from which the boat to
Janus sails. Here he meets a local girl,
Isabel and they fall in love, get married and move to Janus.
We are then back in 1926 with the baby, whom Isabel has named Lucy. With mixed feelings, Tom heeds his wife's advice and doesn't report the boat or the baby to the authorities. As Lucy casts her spell on him he tries to forget how they found her. Two years later they go back to the mainland to get Lucy christened and,
while there they learn the truth about Lucy.
Tom is wracked with guilt as he decides what to do.
It is told from multiple
viewpoints and I would have preferred it if it had just been told from Tom and
Isabel’s point of view. I enjoyed the
story.
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