Online Reading Challenge discussion

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

SUMMARY

Inspired by a haunting true story, a gorgeous and atmospheric novel about the mysterious disappearance of three lighthouse keepers from a remote tower miles from the Cornish coast–and about the wives who were left behind.

What strange fate befell these doomed men? The heavy sea whispers their names. Black rocks roll beneath the surface, drowning ghosts. And out of the swell like a finger of light, the salt-scratched tower stands lonely and magnificent.

It’s New Year’s Eve, 1972, when a boat pulls up to the Maiden Rock lighthouse with relief for the keepers. But no one greets them. When the entrance door, locked from the inside, is battered down, rescuers find an empty tower. A table is laid for a meal not eaten. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a storm raging round the tower, but the skies have been clear. And the clocks have all stopped at 8:45.

Two decades later, the keepers’ wives are visited by a writer determined to find the truth about the men’s disappearance. Moving between the women’s stories and the men’s last weeks together in the lighthouse, long-held secrets surface and truths twist into lies as we piece together what happened, why, and who to believe.

In her riveting and suspenseful novel, Emma Stonex writes a story of isolation and obsession, of reality and illusion, and of what it takes to keep the light burning when all else is swallowed by dark.
(Summary provided by the publisher)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emma Stonex is the author of The Lamplighters, which was her debut novel under her own name, and several other books written under a pseudonym. Before becoming a writer, she worked as an editor at a major publishing house. She lives in Bristol with her husband and two young daughters.

Emma Stonex grew up in Northamptonshire, about as far from the sea as it’s possible to be in the UK. Her love affair with lighthouses and the coast began with childhood holidays to Cornwall and the Isle of Wight, which remain among her favourite places to visit.

Before becoming a writer, Emma worked as an editor in publishing. Ahead of THE LAMPLIGHTERS, she wrote several books under pseudonyms, but saved her real name for the story that had always been in her heart: the real-life mystery of three lighthouse keepers who vanished from their rock light in 1900 and to this day have never been found.
(Biography provided by the publisher and her agency)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• We are presented with several versions of what happened the night of the men’s disappearance—and we are given reasons to doubt every one of those accounts. What do you think really happened? Do you feel there is a clear answer? Do you think the men’s accounts of what happened on the Maiden were real? Does it matter?

• Dan Sharp, the writer who interviews the women, is a bestselling author of naval action thrillers. Do you think The Lamplighters is meant to be his book? If so, how does that shift your perspective on the events of the book?

• The Maiden herself has a real presence in the book, acting as yet another female character. Why do you think Stonex decided to name her “the Maiden”? What relationship does the tower have with the men and the women they left behind? How do you think the Maiden’s role compares with the sea’s role in the book? Do you think they—like Michelle, Helen, and Jenny—were left behind, too, when the men disappeared?

• Jory remarks that a “fisherman told him once about the sea having two faces. You have to take the both, he said, the good and the bad, and never turn your back on either one of them.”

His description and the novel itself treat the sea as a character in its own right. What would you say are its two faces? How does each character’s relationship with the sea – whether they turn their backs on it or face it head-on – inform how their stories play out?

• In her first interview with the writer, Helen evokes the adage that time heals all wounds: “Time gives you a bit of distance where you can look back at whatever’s happened to you and not feel all the feelings you once had.” Did you find this true within the novel? How has time affected each woman’s perspective of the men’s disappearance—and of each other?

• Bill and Helen have vastly different understandings of their brief association, as does Jenny. In the face of such opposing perspectives, is it possible to work out what really happened? Do you think there can be such a thing as an absolutely true version of any story?

• Jenny and Hannah share a tender moment, in which Jenny confesses a secret she’s been hiding from her daughter since Bill’s disappearance. What would you have said if you had been Hannah? Do you think there is such a thing as an unforgiveable act? Does your answer change if it’s a family member who has committed it?

• As we learn through the course of the novel, Helen and Arthur experience a great loss, leaving them on separate sides of a chasm in their relationship as well as in their ties to the sea. How does this loss reshape their marriage? How do they create space for each other’s grief and anger?

• The Lamplighters was inspired by the real-life unresolved disappearance of Thomas Marshall, James Ducat, and Donald MacArthur. How did you feel about the lack of resolution? Did knowing that the book was inspired by true events impact how you felt about the way things ended?

• In many ways, this is a story of reconciliation—characters reconciling with their pasts and making peace with one another and their own choices. Did you feel that everyone achieved reconciliation by the end of the book? How do you think the women’s relationships had shifted, if at all? Did you feel satisfied by the ending?

• Throughout the novel several versions of what happened the night of the men’s disappearance are presented; however all these versions have flaws and pieces that do not add up. What do you really think happened? Do you feel there is a clear answer?

• The way I look at it is there’s light and dark in the world and that’s what the whole world revolves around. There has to be light in order for there to be dark. There are many forms of grief and loss throughout the novel, what do you think the author is trying to say about how we understand and cope with loss?

• Do you think all the characters in the novel were real or were some elements of the characters imagination?

• There is a very evident divide between the males’ perspectives (captured from 1972) and the women’s perspectives (captured in the modern times). Do you think the author has tried to make a statement by presenting them in this way?

• Did you particularly relate to any of the characters relationships within the book? Who’s marriage/relationship did you feel was the most relatable and understandable?

• Throughout the novel there is evident stigma shown towards particular members of the community, how do you think the author helped you to understand those characters particular back stories.
(Discussion questions provided by Clare Mackintosh Book Club and Prison Reading Groups)