Every once in a while you read a book that has phrasing which is so beautiful and uniquely written that you stop and just reread that section again.  I found myself doing that often with The Light Between Oceans which is a wonderful debut novel by an Australian author, L.M. Stedman.  The book takes place right after World War I and is a psychological study of one couple's decision and the ripples that it creates in the world.

Tom Sherbourne, a decorated war hero, returns from World War I forever changed by the horrors of war, but his honor is still intact.  He is so respected and trusted by authorities that he is given the job of lighthouse keeper on a small island about a half day’s journey off of Australia’s western shore named Janus Rock. On one of his visits to the mainland he meets a brave and strong-willed young girl named Isabel and falls in love.  They marry and start their life together on the Island. 

This readalike is in response to a patron's book-match request. If you would like personalized reading recommendations, fill out the book-match form and a librarian will email suggested titles to you. Available for adults, teens, and kids.  You can browse the book matches here.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She may go out once a day to markets whose signs are now pictures because women are not allowed to read. She must pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, for in a time of declining birthrates her value lies in her fertility, and failure means exile to the dangerously polluted Colonies. Offred can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Now she navigates the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules.

If you enjoyed the dystopian themes of this novel and would be interested in similar dystopian works, here are some other titles you may enjoy:

1984 by George Orwell
Doublethink, thought police, constant surveillance, never-ending war. Although this classic dystopian novel was written in 1949, Orwell's lean prose, finely honed political discourse, and penetrating images seem as fresh, as menacing, and as disturbingly prophetic as ever. (Audiofile)


 

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
Shevek, a brilliant physicist, attempts to reunite two planets cut off from each other by centuries of distrust. (worldcat.org)