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 table is set for a meal left uneaten.
What happened to those three men, out on the tower? Can their secrets ever be recovered from the waves?
Twenty years later, a writer approaches the women they left behind, determined to solve the puzzle. Helen, Jenny and Michelle should have been united by the tragedy; instead, it drove them apart. But only in confronting their darkest fears can the truth begin to surface...
The Lamplighters is based on the real life disappearance of three lighthouse keepers in 1900, resulting in wild speculation at the time, and inspiration for books, music and film years after the event. I’m not really one for anything based on a true story, but as S.J. Watson described it as ‘a mystery, a love story and a ghost story all at once’ my interest was piqued.
The novel switches perspective between the years 1972 and 1992, the earlier leading up to the disappearances, the latter, the events following it. I did struggle a bit with the time jumps because I couldn’t remember which woman had been partnered to who. And the character names didn’t help – two of the lighthouse keepers are married to Jenny and Helen. Jenny has two daughters, Julia and Hannah (see what i mean?) Rodger, Reg and Rodney are other names that crop up. I mean how could you not get confused. And with the chapters switching between each character and all being told in first person, they read a little too similar to tell their voices apart. But on the plus side, Stonex is a good descriptive writer.
Helen turned off the high Street and walked up the lane. Midges hovered in trembling clouds and the scent of cow parsley rose ripe and heat-soaked from the busy hedgerow. Warm shadows leaned across her path; an orange sun divided by the dark stems of trees. She passed the sign for Mortehaven Cemetery. Crumbling headstones sloped from their rows, staggering down towards the lip of the promontory, beyond which the sea shot far and wide in a dazzling celebration of blue.
Can she set the scene, or what?
The Lamplighters is definitely more of a literary than genre read. We get in the heads of the characters; their dark secrets and motivations, longing and regrets. Everyone has a secret, and you feel sorry for all of them. I found the 1992 chapters interesting, as Jenny, Helen and Michelle are interviewed by a writer who’s working on a book about the disappearances, and Stonex chose to show these scenes using first person present tense, but you never see the writer. It’s just a stream of consciousness running monologue, almost as if they’re talking to themselves, placing further emphasis on their shared lonliness and isolation, common themes throughout the book over the span of both decades.
I found the pacing a bit on the slow side in the first half, but the middle of the book picked up (just needed more Sid! Definitely the most interesting chatacter imo) The lamplighters is an intriguing read. Mainly to see how Stonex incorporates the events of the original tradegy into her novel. It’s moody and atmoshpheric, with a heavy emphasis on complex relationships. Not quite what I thought it was going to be, but still worth a read.