The Lamplighters- Blog Tour

 

Publisher: Picador/ Pan Macmillan 

Publishing Date: 4th March 2021

Genre: Psychological fiction/ Thriller, Mystery 

Gifted Kindly from publishing team. Many Thanks 

Synopsis 

They say we'll never know what happened to those men. They say the sea keeps its secrets . . .
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 Principal Keeper's weather log describes a mighty storm, but the skies have been clear all week.
What happened to those three men, out on the tower? The heavy sea whispers their names. The tide shifts beneath the swell, drowning ghosts. Can their secrets ever be recovered from the waves?
Twenty years later, the women they left behind are still struggling to move on. Helen, Jenny and Michelle should have been united by the tragedy, but instead it drove them apart. And then a writer approaches them. He wants to give them a chance to tell their side of the story. But only in confronting their darkest fears can the truth begin to surface . . .
Inspired by real events, The Lamplighters is an intoxicating and suspenseful mystery, an unforgettable story of love and grief that explores the way our fears blur the line between the real and the imagined.

Rating •••••

Review

This novel was cleverly written and holds so much emotion. Emma Stonex has seamlessly intertwined; times events, plot holes and different voices which made it even more enticing to read. Reading it made the words lift off the paper and you could visually see it. 

It is inspired by real events which the author has put her own literary nuance too.  As the story unfolded, it has a haunting and chilling atmosphere. It was told from several different perspectives and the build up to the fatal day. It alternates between 1972 and 1992 from the keepers to their families. There was complexity, beauty and tragedy within the characters the more your learnt about them. 

The maiden is an isolated rock lighthouse surrounded by sea. The more you read about the architecture of the lighthouse , I almost felt claustrophobic for the keepers. Compact small rooms, small beds and you can visualise these big framed keepers and how as time went by it would be disorientating for them. The sea become symbolic in its description  of changing colours and the rise and fall of the waves and how it would influence the keepers decisions based on going home and if they would receive supplies. 

The principle keeper was Arthur and his wife Helen and you come to learn more a tragedy, Bill is the assistant keeper and his wife Jenny who are at times opposites and finally Vince who went to the lights for escapism from a dark past with a new life with girlfriend Michelle. You come to learn the effects and choices of being weeks away from families and the effects it began to have.  You learn early on that they are keeping their own secrets but it did keep me guessing which were relevant to the disappearance although there were some red herrings that threw me off.  The author twenty years later, reopens old wounds for the three women, who have since drifted apart.

The novel highlighted and extracted; loneliness, break down in communication not only in their relationships but between the men, losing sense of reality and disconnect. 

It was steeped in mystery and never once did it become confusing as the characters were well written. In equal parts I wanted to know what happened to the keepers but also afraid for them. I really liked how the ending was still left to some interpretation but still gave you enough information. 

I am so happy that I was privileged to obtain a proof copy and join the blog tour. I will be thinking about this novel for a while!