RebeccaTom is living in a dream. He loves Lucy and Isabel, but he knows that it cannot go on forever. He has a constant fear of being found out, or the child recognized as resembling Hannah of her husband more than himself or Isabel. Isabel refuses to entertain any thoughts of letting Hannah know where her daughter is or that she is even alive. In her mind, the child is hers and there are no other alternatives open.
As the family heads to Point Partaguese for the celebration of Janus Island Lighthouse, the same feelings are still there. When Tom comes face to face with Hannah, and recognizes her as the young lady he saved from the soldier years earlier, the torment becomes even harder to bear. His guilt is beginning to eat away at him, and causing friction in his and Isabel’s relationship.
Hannah has despaired of ever seeing her family again. She is sure that they are both gone, but the hope remains that they will be found. The mysterious note that she received bolstered her hope that her daughter was alive, but where? With the delivery of a package, with a note that mirrored the first, her hope is fanned into full flames. The rattle in the package is one that her father had commissioned for Grace, and with its return, she knew that she could find her daughter. As she made her way back to the police station, she surged with new hopes and dreams. When the picture appears in the paper, and is recognized, Bluey knows that he has to say something, but feels that he should talk to Tom first. His mother, seeing only dollar signs, refuses and marches him down to tell his story to the police.
When the boat docks at Janus Island, and several men disembark, Tom soon knows that the game is up. Lucy has been identified as the missing child. Tom and Isabel are taken back to the mainland, and Tom is arrested. Isabel is angry and hurt. How could Tom do this to her? How dare he!? With Isabel refusing to talk, and Tom not telling the entire story, the police are determined to throw the book at him.
The struggle now begins to assimilate Grace – rather, Lucy – back into a home she has never known. The woman who calls herself her mother is not the mother she knows, and her tantrums and crying are more than Hannah can bear. Lucy demands to be returned to her mamma and dadda, and Hanna feels herself beginning to break. How much longer will this continue and how will she manage to break through the defenses of the young girl?
This week we are reading Chapters 19-27
Questions:
- Was Tom attempting to appease himself by leaving the notes for Hannah?
- Hannah has had her world ripped apart and partially handed back to her. Do you think the actions of those around her helped to confuse the child?
- Isabel is angry and hurt, and feels that her world has been ripped out from underneath her. But it is fair to let her anger carry her husband to jail?
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I am loving this book. . . it really pulls you in. I really understand Tom’s struggle with this. . . he wants his wife to be happy after the lose and sorry of losing three babies, but he knows someone else is suffering, too. His sense of right and wrong, of justice is being stretched beyond belief.
I do not understand Isabel not standing by him when that is what he was trying to do for her.
Has anyone else caught the strong ideal of the title, “Light between Oceans” and the two women he is standing between?????
He definitely struggled with the right and the wrong of the situation. He loved them both.. it was so evident. Isabel was angry that he took her baby away, her only joy left on the island of despair that had built up around her.
Some very strong emotions on both sides. I love his commitment to truth, however. . . and his love for Izzy was so very evident. Do you think her upbringing had anything to do with her reaction to Tom’s actions to make things right?
I do not know. Her family suffered through several deaths. Her brothers were killed in the war, so she was the only remaining child her parents had. I think she hit the breaking point with Lucy. Lucy was her last hold on having any living child, and although it meant heartbreak for someone else, she was able to feel as though she had provided her husband with a child.
Tom did love her, and that showed through everything, but his guilt was even more present. The anonymous letters to Hannah showed that he wanted to do the right thing, even though he could not come out and tell her.