@ColeMoreton @marylebonehouse @crudites_ #TheLightKeeper #Bookreview – The Light Keeper

What Amazon says

‘I loved this’ Matt Haig ‘Fabulous’ Jane Fallon ‘Mesmerizing’ Peter James ‘Wonderfully written’ Anthony Horowitz

Sarah stands on the brink, arms open wide as if to let the wind carry her away.

She’s come to the high cliffs to be alone, to face the truth about her life, to work out what to do.

Her lover Jack is searching, desperate to find her before it is too late. But Sarah doesn’t want to be found. Not yet. Not by him.

And someone else is seeking answers up here where the seabirds soar – a man known only as the Keeper, living in an old lighthouse right on the cusp of a four-hundred-foot drop. He is all too aware that sometimes love takes you to the edge . . .

‘Cole writes with human warmth and bittersweet emotion. I loved this.’
Matt Haig 

‘Wonderfully written. This is a book that will stay with you.’
Anthony Horowitz

‘An absolute thing of beauty. Not like anything else I’ve read. Fabulous.’
Jane Fallon 

‘Mesmerizing and lyrical, Cole creates atmosphere you can breathe and emotion that can shred your heart.’
Peter James

‘Evocative, spiritual and deeply immersive.’
Rev Kate Bottley

‘Tremendous speed and pace. The ending took me completely by surprise.’
Jeffrey Archer 

‘Compelling, ambitious and deeply moving.’ 
Peter Stanford 

‘Beautifully tense and atmospheric.’
Marianne Power

My review

The light keeper is a fascinating read that centres around two people who have faced, and continue to face, terrible loss in their lives.

Gabriel Keane, better know as the light keeper, lives in a partially renovated light house on a hill along the cliffs near the ocean. The setting is piercingly beautiful and it is a place that people come to appreciate the views, but it also holds a more sinister appeal to people who have reached a place of complete despair and wish to end their lives. Suicides are so common along this stretch of coast that a group of voluntary workers called the Guardians patrol it regularly in order to try to save the lives of the desperate. Of late, the suicides have been increasing rather than reducing, despite the apparent best attempts of the Guardians.

Gabriel bought the light house and started the renovations with his lover, Ri, whom he met while he was still a journalist reporting on war and other circumstances of human turmoil and suffering. Ri is an artist who understands how to enjoy and treasure life and she lifts Gabriel out of his place of sadness and teaches him about happiness and the goodness of life. Gabriel is now living alone in the light house that was never completed as a bed and breakfast and spends his time surviving and not living.

Gabriel meets Jack, a young and tormented man, who is searching for his missing wife. Jack professes to adore Sarah, but displays some selfish and erratic character traits, including attacking a police officer and others. Sarah and Jack have been trying to have a baby for a number of years and she is currently on fertility treatment, which has made her very emotionally volatile. Jack and Sarah’s love life has degenerated into a “sperm donor” situation which Jack feeling used and Sarah feeling desperate.

Sarah is an only child who lost her mother at a young age. She is looking for love and believes she has found it with the impulsive and slightly spoiled, Jack. Her relationship with Jack appears to be more one of a carer and mother than a wife and lover, as she supports Jack with his musical ambitions. Jack came across as a selfish man who could not see the good things in his own life, but spent his time hankering after acceptance and acknowledgement from his famous father.

Gabriel and Sarah’s lives are destined to cross and, together, they explore their relationships, motivations and lives. Ultimately, they much each decide on their own paths forward.

The light keeper is an intense and turbulent read which is quite disturbing with its harrowing content of abuse, suicide, loneliness and even murder.

Purchase The Light Keeper

Goodbye for now

I am taking a blogging break for the next two weeks. I will see you all again on 1 September.

Robbie