Book Review: "The Lamplighters" by Emma Stonex

I love stories set upon the seas. One of my favourite books is Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick" and another is Homer's "Odyssey". Even though I do not really live near an ocean and nor do I go out on the sea a lot - my hometown has more canals than Venice (yep, fun fact there!). There's always water around and well, I can honestly say that I have travelled up and down these more than once even if it is mostly just walking by them and appreciating the little boats that go up and down throughout the city. When nautical literature meets the gothic it is something to be appreciated. There are many things that could become cliché, misunderstood or even just plain boring - but Emma Stonex seems to get around all of these and navigate us into a winding story about three men who go missing from a lighthouse when the door is locked from the inside.

The book starts off in the 1970s when three men: Arthur, Bill and Vince, are working in a lighthouse. This lighthouse is not normal as it does not stand on land. Instead, it is like its own little island that stands out on sea. It has a doughnut-like ring of land around it so the men can have some fresh air once in a while, but when you’re working out there, you’re all alone. These three men though, they have each other and whilst working on there, the police come to investigate only to realise that all three of them are missing. The door to the lighthouse is locked shut from the inside and the men are nowhere to be found. Thinking that there must be some hiding place within, the police crew search all nine floors only to find that there is no trace of anything. No men, no blood, no sign of forced entry - nothing. Writer Dan Sharp lives in the 90s and has read all about the Maiden Rock Lighthouse Mystery in his youth. Since then, he has wanted to write a book about solving it and books appointments to talk to the wives of the men who were lost. As he speaks to them he realises that there are far more important things to the story than just the men going missing - the Maiden Rock Lighthouse Mystery is far, far bigger than he thought it was. But be that as it may, he is compelled to find out the truth at whatever the cost. And yet, the wives are not really telling him all there is to know.

The writing is brilliant. Flashing back and forth between the 70s and the 90s, we get to see this old time sea tale of men locked in a lighthouse together whilst also witnessing a man who is trying to solve the mystery of their disappearance in a fairly modernist style. We get the narratives of the wives and each of them have their own voices, so even without the titles of who is speaking in that chapter - you would definitely know which wife it was. But I guess the one thing I liked most is this impending doom that underlines the book. You know that something big is coming but you have no idea how you’re going to react to it when it does. There is something about not knowing that makes you bite your nails off and yet, you feel even more pained for the wives who are having to retell this tale to a man they just met. There are so many things that do not add up - you just have to keep with them as they beat along through to a overwhelming conclusion.