The Lamplighters: Emma Stonex

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As the book unfolds, we see the friendship between the three men grow and deepen, as they work together to keep the lighthouse running and support each other through their personal struggles. The rating I give a book is almost always decided at the end. Once I’ve finished and the story is complete and all the pieces have fallen into place. But every now and again I will reach a point within a book and know that it is a five-star read. It doesn’t matter what comes after or what came before, you just know, in that moment, that the book you are reading is next level good. That’s what happened in this one for me, I hit a particular chapter late in the book (chapter forty-one) and that was it. Everything fell into place and the prism shifted, all that had been out of focus became crystal clear. And it made me cry, the devastation and the way in which a moment in time can take so much, destroy a love, change the direction of your life, and wound irreparably. I like the idea of that shell being returned to the sea. All that travelling over millions of years, all that effort, rolling in the grind of the prehistoric wash, only to be spat up on a distant shore…’ At the cemetery, Helen meets Dan Martin, the writer who had been researching the disappearance of the lighthouse keepers and had spoken to Helen years ago, without revealing his true identity.

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex review – a superb debut

The personification of the sea and the lighthouse is sensationally authoritative and compelling, with the corporeal imagery, mesmerising in its detail, transposing the written word into a movie. The ocean’s changing temperament, reflective of the human mind and soul, depicts the all-powerful injurious Poseidon; it's paradoxical, melancholic, dramatic beauty at variance with its malevolence. Correspondingly, the ‘Maiden’ with its alluring magnetism is transformed into a 20th century ‘Siren’ of the sea. Do its circular walls represent a cocoon or a writhing python intent on devouring its prey? Another for my TBR list – thanks for the great review – as soon as I saw the word Cornwall you captured my interest – 👩‍🦳📖✔️🦋🧚‍♀️🌈 The characters in the novel are flawed and not always likeable but this makes it more believable that they have chosen this way of life. Isolation and confinement take their toll on both the lighthouse keepers and their families. 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? The novel concludes with a poignant sense of acceptance and closure, as the characters come to terms with the mysteries and tragedies of the past, finding hope and light in the present and future.

🍪 Privacy & Transparency

In this blog post, we will take a closer look at the ending of The Lamplighters and explain what really happened to the three men. We will examine the various clues and hints throughout the book that point to the truth and offer our own interpretation of the ending. In all my years I’ve realised there are two kinds of people. The ones who hear a creak in a dark, lonely house, and shut the windows because it must have been the wind. And the ones who hear a creak in a dark, lonely house, light a candle, and go to take a look.’

The Lamplighters - Book Ending Explained - Wrote a Book The Lamplighters - Book Ending Explained - Wrote a Book

A mystery is only a mystery for as long as it remains unsolved. The set-up can carry as many intriguing details as you like, but at the whiff of an answer, it loses its power. My challenge with The Lamplighters was to tread the fine line between committing to what I think happened to the keepers, and leaving enough avenues open for readers to decide on their version of events. While The Lamplighters is in many ways a book about the endurance of the human spirit, it is also about this need in us to find resolution, to reach the truth, and ultimately to throw light on dark places.That’s the inspiration but Emma Stonex imagines her own set of events and characters and it is absolutely addictive, often very creepy and with some beautiful writing. The slow yet steady unwrapping of each piece of plot is exceedingly well done; Stonex knows how to pull us in deep, until we feel just as ensnared and claustrophobic as the characters. Her prose is like the sea around the Maiden: beautiful, unpredictable, and substantial. The broody atmosphere is almost tangible at times, often as heavy and foreboding as the inescapable catastrophe.