ONE CRUCIAL CHOICE
M.L. Stedman's debut novel, The Light Between Oceans, is a poignant page-turner that marks the arrival of an impressive new literary talent. Tom Sherbourne minds the lighthouse on Janus Rock, an island off the coast of Australia. A World War I veteran with a strong sense of right and wrong, Tom leads a quiet life until he meets outgoing, bubbly Isabel. Eager for marriage and motherhood, she wins Tom's affections, and the two make a home on the island. After Isabel endures a pair of miscarriages, their hopes for a family dim—until a boat washes ashore bearing a dead man and a baby, whom Isabel wants to keep. Tom, concerned about the baby's mother, has doubts about the decision, but he guards their secret, and his silence has heartrending repercussions. Emotionally riveting, Stedman's powerful novel won't soon be forgotten by readers. It's a first-rate story and also a sensitive exploration of the ways in which loyalty and love shape individual lives.

A TRIP WORTH TAKING
In Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, her remarkable chronicle of self-discovery, Cheryl Strayed shares the story of the solitary trek that changed her life. Emotionally exhausted after the death of her mother, bouts of drug use and a divorce, 26-year-old Strayed embarks on a difficult hike along the Pacific Crest Trail—a 1,100-mile stretch that passes through California and Oregon. The already challenging enterprise is further complicated by Strayed's lack of preparation. She fails to research the trail or fit herself out with proper hiking boots. Instead of suitable camping equipment, she brings along beloved books by Adrienne Rich and Flannery O'Connor. But her willingness to risk everything adds to the appeal of the narrative. This is a compelling story of personal transformation seasoned with fascinating details about the trail itself—its hazards, its challenges and its hikers, who are, by and large, an odd bunch. Chosen for Oprah's Book Club 2.0, this memoir stands out thanks to Strayed's formidable storytelling skills.

TOP PICK FOR BOOK CLUBS
The story of a mother who pulls an unexpected disappearing act, Maria Semple's second novel, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, is a charmer from start to finish. Bernadette is disgruntled with the politically correct Seattle lifestyle she and her family became a part of when they left Los Angeles. Although life is good—her computer-whiz husband, Elgin, works at Microsoft, and their daughter, Bee, excels in school—Bernadette retreats from everyday existence. Unbeknownst to her family, she uses an online personal assistant, who takes care of her daily tasks—and listens to her complaints. When Bernadette disappears, Bee is left to piece together her story, and the book unfolds  through the emails, magazine pieces and police reports she gathers. In Semple's hands, this narrative approach feels wonderfully original. Semple, who spent 15 years as a writer for TV shows, including "Arrested Development," is a gifted novelist who brings warmth, humor and a sly intelligence to this tale of maternal angst.

In the wake of World War I, on a remote island off the coast of Australia, lighthouse keeper Tom Sherbourne and his wife Isabel make a life-altering choice: to keep and raise a foundling child who is not theirs. The repercussions of this decision shape M.L. Stedman's stunning debut novel, The Light Between Oceans.

We caught up with Stedman (herself born and raised in Western Australia) for a discussion of right and wrong, moral ambiguity and an author's responsibility to her characters.

What a mesmerizing story. Did anything specific inspire you to write The Light Between Oceans?

I write fairly instinctively, just seeing what comes up when I sit down at the page. For this story, it was a lighthouse, then a woman and a man. Before long, a boat washed up on the beach, and in it I could see a dead man, and then a crying baby. Everything that happens in the book stems from this initiating image—a bit like the idea of ‘Big Bang'—an initial point that seems tiny turns out to be incredibly dense, and just expanded outward further and further. I got to know Tom and Isabel as I wrote them, and was drawn into their seemingly insoluble dilemma, and their struggle to stay true to their love for each other as well as to their own deepest drives.

The major moral question of keeping a child that isn't yours is posed early in the book. Do you think there was a "right" decision for Tom and Isabel?

Aha! It's up to each reader to come up with their own answer to this one.

Fair enough. Well, you do a wonderful job of refusing to pass judgment on your characters. Was this a conscious choice and if so, was it difficult to do?

It was a conscious choice, yes. I think today more than ever we can fall into "sound-bite judgment," reaching conclusions on the basis of quite a cursory consideration of an issue. It's a kind of moral multitasking, that stems perhaps from being required to have an opinion on everything. If we really stop to consider things, they're rarely black and white.

As to the second part of your question, the more my own views differed from that of a character, the more satisfying I found it to explore them and to put their point of view as convincingly as possible.

To this end, do you think there is a "bad guy" here? Do all books need heroes and antagonists?

I don't think there are any "bad guys" in the book, just some poor choices made on the basis of imperfect information or perspective (i.e. the lot of the standard-issue human). Stories need tension, which can be supplied by antagonists, but here it's supplied by fate or circumstance—the overwhelming force that pretty much all the characters are up against. One good character's gain will be another good character's loss, which makes the questions a lot harder. I didn't want there to be any "safe place" in the book where the reader could relax and say, "I'm completely sure of what the right thing to do is here."

If we really stop to consider things, they're rarely black and white.

Speaking of antagonists, the landscape of Janus Rock and the great sea beyond is awfully unforgiving. Is it based on a real location?

No and yes. The island of Janus Rock is entirely fictitious (although I have a placeholder for it on Google maps). But the region where the Great Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet is real, and the climate, weather and the landscape are more or less as I've described them. I wrote some of the book there: It's a very beautiful, if sometimes fierce, part of the world.

Lighthouses are always weighty images in literature. What do they represent to you?

A lighthouse automatically implies potential drama: You only find them where there's a risk of going astray or running aground. They're a reminder, too, of human frailty, and the heroic endeavor of mankind to take on the forces of nature in a ludicrously unfair fight to make safe our journey through this world. And they betoken binary opposites such as safety and danger, light and dark, movement and stasis, communication and isolation—they are intrinsically dynamic because they make our imaginations pivot between them.

What kind of research did you do to prepare to write?

To prepare, none at all! My research very much followed the story rather than leading it. I climbed up lighthouses, and went through the lightkeepers' logbooks in the Australian National Archives—wonderful. And I spent time in the British Library, reading battalion journals and other materials from Australian soldiers in WWI: heartbreaking accounts that often left me in tears.

Do you have any useful tips for aspiring novelists?

Write because you love it. Write because that's how you want to spend those irreplaceable heartbeats. Don't write to please anyone else, or to achieve something that will retrospectively validate your choice.

In Stedman's compelling, heartrending debut novel—infused with the symbol of the lighthouse as guidance and shelter—quiet, thoughtful Tom returns home to Australia after World War I and seeks refuge as a lighthouse keeper. Isabelle, a high-spirited young woman who is ruled by emotion, works her way into Tom's heart and joins him at his remote outpost. Although they yearn for a family, after three years and three lost babies, the light in Izzy's eyes has dimmed. Then, inexplicably, a small boat washes ashore, bearing a dead man and a tiny but healthy infant. Is this the answer to Tom and Izzy's fervent prayers? They must quickly choose whether to keep the baby as their own or to report it to the authorities. Years later, in another, faraway lighthouse, the story circles around to a satisfying conclusion. VERDICT Stedman's engrossing, emotionally driven novel sensitively treats the issue of loss and how we learn to live with its aftermath. Fans of Anita Shreve or Elizabeth Berg will enjoy being swept up in this novel. [See Prepub Alert, 2/20/12.]—Susanne Wells, MLS, Indianapolis

After World War I, Tom Sherbourne takes a job as lighthouse keeper on isolated Janus Rock, off the coast of Australia, where the supply boat comes only four times a year. His spunky wife, Isabel, suffers two miscarriages and a still birth in three years, so it's no surprise that when a boat washes up carrying a dead man and a live baby, Isabel persuades Tom not to report the incident and takes the baby as hers. That causes trouble, of course, when they eventually return to the mainland. Big in-house excitement for this first novel, which will be backed by NPR coverage and a reading group guide. Tops on my reading list.

In Stedman's deftly crafted debut, Tom Sherbourne, seeking constancy after the horrors of WWI, takes a lighthouse keeper's post on an Australian island, and calls for Isabel, a young woman he met on his travels, to join him there as his wife. In peaceful isolation, their love grows. But four years on the island and several miscarriages bring Isabel's seemingly boundless spirit to the brink, and leave Tom feeling helpless until a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a living child. Isabel convinces herself—and Tom—that the baby is a gift from God. After two years of maternal bliss for Isabel and alternating waves of joy and guilt for Tom, the family, back on the mainland, is confronted with the mother of their child, very much alive. Stedman grounds what could be a far-fetched premise, setting the stage beautifully to allow for a heart-wrenching moral dilemma to play out, making evident that "Right and wrong can be like bloody snakes: so tangled up that you can't tell which is which until you've shot 'em both, and then it's too late." Most impressive is the subtle yet profound maturation of Isabel and Tom as characters. Agent: Susan Armstrong, Conville & Walsh. (Aug.)