I had no idea what I was getting into with this book, and it is still dawning on me. Before beginning the audio I hadn't realized it was Australian-authored, with the expressive-yet-understated voicing of Noah Taylor. The lyric of Taylor's reading combined with Steadman's magnificent prose to make a book that was spellbinding despite the quiet of its setting on a deserted lighthouse island with a population of 2, then 3. 
 Tom is a war hero -- the sort who comes back broken, but humble and in-control. He gets up and paces on certain long nights when the nightmares are particularly bad, waiting for it to pass. He is himself a model of the lighthouse -- steady and unwavering, simple and exact, and dedicated to serving. One of the central themes of the book is his relationship with Isabelle, his young wife, much his opposite in exuded energy and passion, to whom he dedicates his life. And then, under mysterious circumstances, newborn Lucy enters their life -- either a god-send or the sort of temptation that destroys souls already weakened by tragedy. 
 As mentioned, both the reading and the writing of this novel are magnificent. The story itself proceeds quietly, building in tension that sets lawful conscience against love for and from a child, all stemming from conscience-bending tragedies. More than half way through the book I described the story to my wife, explaining my curiosity as to how the author would continue -- it has such potential for either sappiness that would be untrue to the grounded integrity the book thusfar exhibited, or a horrible tragedy that I could not recommend in good conscience to anyone. Let me conclude this review by simply stating that I can whole-heartedly recommend this book. Steadman found a thread to tie the book up without breaching its own integrity nor treating the reader with overt unkindness. As a reader I was left with certain questions: Was this book really about the thing I thought it was? Does this book have heroes or villains, and if so, who? 
 It is one of a few books I've listened to that I need to obtain in text, both for deeper reading and so I can hold on to some of its most profoundly poetic treasures.