Three lighthouse keepers go missing without a trace off the south coast. But do the reasons for their disappearance lie at sea or on land, where the three women they left behind struggle with the secrets they’ve held onto for twenty years.
Stonex beautifully evokes the atmosphere and lure of the lighthouse. Though a locked door mystery ,this is the least intriguing part of the book, the characters, their lives and the consequences of their silence, both before and after the incident are placed centre stage.
A wonderful novel that stays in the mind long after you’ve read the last page.

This book gets mixed reviews from me. Negatives:
The book seemed to take ages to plough through and felt as if it dragged. Measured by my usual yardstick of “Am I desperately wanting bedtime to come so I can read it?” this book also came up lacking. I enjoyed it while I was reading but I could shut it and go to sleep and also wasn’t desperate to get back to it at the end of the day. I also found that in her twisting and turning ‘who dunnit’ plot line I did end up finding it implausible that every character would be hiding a secret that could explain what happened and who was the culprit. There were too many coincidences and contrivances.
The positives:
I loved the characterisation. All characters, even the very small parts like the boatman were well drawn and realistic. I was especially drawn to Helen and Arthur and Vince. I loved the chapters set in the lighthouse and the author captured the 1970’s feel beautifully. I loved the stream of consciousness style of the chapters where the women were talking to the author and the whole back and forth chapter set up was lovely.

Over all, I’m still thinking about the characters which is the mark of a good book (and my heart is still broken for Helen) but I’m also glad I’ve finished reading it and can now move on to something more brisk.

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex had me gripped. The way is was written with all the characters giving their own voice was perfect in keeping you engaged with the story. Loved it!

Three men on a lighthouse one day, none the next. The door is locked from the inside, the clocks are stopped, the dinner table is set, but no one is inside. It’s a wonderfully eerie premise, and one which becomes all the more unsettling when you find out it’s a true story.

The novel flicks backwards and forwards between time and narrative. At times we focus on the lives of the three lighthouse keepers in 1972, their daily jobs, their shifts, their feelings of isolation and worry. At others, we jump forward twenty years, and hear the stories of the women they left behind. Stonex does well to differentiate these voices, with the male sections being very efficient and matter of fact, and the female voices being full of emotion, hurt and longing.

In fact, Stonex’s writing skill is in no doubt here. Full of atmosphere and intensity, her depictions of the Cornish coast to the lighthouse itself brought a saltwater taste to my tongue. Her characterisations were raw and real, and she has a particular mastery in creating tension from the simplest of scenarios.

There was never a clear conclusion reached on how these men went missing, however this was something I welcomed. As Stonex has based her novel on a true story, it perhaps wouldn’t be fitting to invent a definite reason, and to allow the question mark to remain. She did, however, toy with some supernatural elements in her attempt to present a possibility, and these were something which I felt didn’t quite suit the other, very real, aspects of the plot. Although the ambiguity was no doubt intended, I was confused and unsure what it all meant.

Although the mystery of what happened to these men is really what we’re here for, the skill we see in The Lamplighters is not in the discovery of secrets, or the solving of puzzles. Rather, we’re taken into a world most of us know little about, and we see how a lighthouse can affect relationships, feelings, and mental states. The exploration of this was wonderful, and I loved seeing both how the men dealt with their incredibly isolated jobs, and in contrast how the women dealt with their own isolation after their husbands disappeared. It was rich with sensation, and carefully crafted to allow us to understand how we all handle grief differently.

A stunning debut, and one which will creep into your heart, The Lamplighters will suck you into its depths.

The story is based on fact. It tells of 3 wives whose husbands disappear. They all find it difficult to move on in their own ways.
I found the swapping back and forth of time frames interesting as was the narration of he workings of the lighthouse.
The ending appeared a little weak and I think the writing could have been somewhat condensed. It did hold my interest though.

Atmospheric and absorbing, this novel deals with the mysterious disappearance of three lighthouse keepers from a lighthouse in Cornwall in 1972. Told in flashback by the keepers, wives and girlfriends 20 years after the event, it takes you on a path of hope, duty, desire and mental illness with a dash of the paranormal thrown in for good measure. I thought the company who employed the men insisting on total secrecy was a bit far-fetched but necessary for the plot, however, on the whole this is an enjoyable read.

Superb and atmospheric, I was sad when this reached its conclusion. It wears its research lightly to give a solid sense of the reality of working on manned lighthouses. The pivotal events of the book are set in 1972, but the problems experienced by lighthouse Keepers are the age old ones of loneliness, cabin fever and homesickness. You have to trust the men you are working with, but what happens when you can no longer do that?
Onshore, the wives and girlfriends wait. Helen, Jenny and Michelle all think they hold the key to what happened out there on The Maiden and for twenty years they would rather it stay hidden. The company who employed their partners would rather it all lie undisturbed beneath the waves too and pay out good money to try and ensure that. An author appears who wants to reveal the truth by talking to the women and the memories start to roil and sweep once again.....
Perfectly constructed to let the true story out bit by bit, the book also contains stunning descriptions of the sea, weather and lighthouse folklore. One of the final revelations could have been a step too far in less accomplished hands but here it makes the reader say “Ah, of course!”, because there are no extraneous characters and nothing thrown in that doesn’t make perfect sense.
I will remember this book for a long time, thank you so much for the advanced copy.

Really enjoyed this tale and was sucked into the atmosphere from the very beginning. Must admit to being a fan of good Sea Tales and this is certainly one worth reading. The author has captured the detail and daily lives of the keepers and their families beautifully. A good solid mystery plot too.

Highly recommended.

In December 1900, the three keepers of the lighthouse on Eilean Mòr, one of the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides, disappeared without a trace. The lighthouse itself was found to be clean and in good shape, with no indication of any struggle or unusual occurrence. The only detail suggesting a hurried abandonment of the lighthouse, was the discovery of one set of oilskins, suggesting that one of the men – unlike the others – had left the lighthouse without them.


The Flannan Isles disappearance is one of the best-known sea-related mysteries. The most probable – and prosaic – explanation is that two of the keepers might have been carried out by freak waves during a storm, with the third suffering the same fate when he tried to assist his comrades. However, there is no lack of alternative theories – ranging from suggestions of a “double-homicide-and-suicide” to alien abduction.

The mystery has kept a hold on artists’ imagination. In 1912, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson wrote the ballad Flannan Isle, retelling the story with some artistic licence (the detail of an “overturned chair” is Gibson’s invention although it is often perceived to be true). The 2018 movie The Vanishing is based on the story, which is also referenced in the much-lauded The Lighthouse of the following year directed by Robert Eggers of The Witch fame. And, as a lover of classical music, I cannot fail to mention the “ghost opera” The Lighthouse by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, which reinterprets the mystery as a Gothic shocker featuring religious mania and a descent into madness.

The Flannan Isles mystery provides the inspiration for The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex. Stonex draws from the real-life incident just the bare bones of the story (the unexplained disappearance of three keepers from a remote lighthouse) and a handful of the more intriguing details (such as the ‘stopped clocks’). Other than that however, she weaves her own tale, and it is definitely a compelling one.

The Lamplighters transposes the events to 1972 and sets them in a rock lighthouse, a “fifty-metre column of heroic Victorian engineering” known as the Maiden, standing out of the sea fifteen nautical miles off the Cornish coast. The lighthouse is manned by three keepers, Principal Keeper Arthur Black, assistant Keeper William ‘Bill’ Walker and Supernumerary Assistant Keeper Vincent ‘Vinny’ Bourne. Like their real-life counterparts, the trio go missing in December, with no obvious explanation to their disappearance. Twenty years later, a writer of nautical fiction decides to write a book about this mystery. The narrative alternates between two timelines – some chapters are set in 1972 and are written from the perspective of the individual keepers; others are set in 1992 and consist mainly of interviews with the author. Through this approach, Stonex teases out two different strands. One the one hand there is the account of the male-centred three-member community of the lighthouse. On the other hand, there is the counternarrative of the women these men left behind, whether during their spells at the lighthouse or, more definitively, following their disappearance.

Towards the end, the novel presents us with different possible solutions to the mystery, including the one which, it seems, we should take at face value since it is recounted by an omniscient, third-person narrator. Even then, however, an element of doubt remains: “We’re not sure of the truth, are we? Isn’t that the point? Some mysteries just aren’t meant to be known…”

While the mystery element drives the narrative forward, The Lamplighters is not primarily about that. Its strength lies in the description of the complex relationships between the small cast of characters, particularly the rivalry between Bill and Arthur and, in parallel, their wives Jenny and Helen. I also enjoyed the atmospheric descriptions of the way of life of the lighthouse keepers. These are based on historical accounts, giving the novel a salty tang of authenticity. What I found less convincing are the attempts at including a supernatural element (including puzzling references to a mysterious “Silver Man”) in a novel which is primarily ‘realist’ in approach. Much as I enjoy supernatural fiction, I felt that the very human drama of three keepers trapped on a rock out at sea at the mercy of the elements is more than enough to give The Lamplighters a Gothic flavour, without the need to resort to ghostly apparitions.

I was intrigued by the write up of this book and couldn’t wait to start reading. It was broken down into the views of the three lighthouse keepers and their families, which at times didn’t hold my interest. The Parts about life for the keepers was interesting but I’m afraid this wasn’t a book I enjoyed

The story is loosely based on a real life story and is set in Cornwall in 1972. Three keepers vanish from the remote lighthouse but the door is locked from the inside and the clocks have stopped - at a time which has deep meaning to the Principal Keeper - does that mean he's behind their disappearance.... or is something more sinister afoot....

Fast forward to the 20 year anniversary and the three women left behind - Helen, Jenny and Michelle are estranged until a writer approaches them wanting the story from their sides for an explosive new book he's writing. Helen is all for it, all she's wanted to do is lay her husband and what happened to him to rest, Jenny, an anxious and curious soul regrets the thing she did in a pique of hurt and Michelle, who was young enough to move on with her life clings on to her one true love.

It's an absolutely brilliant read which had me totally engrossed from the very first page, I loved the descriptions of the sea, the lighthouse and the secrets which emerge throughout the story. A must read.

A mysterious story of three lighthouse keepers disappearing with no trace and all doors locked from the inside... couldn't be more intriguing to start with. oh wait, it could! It is also based on a true story!
Atmosphere of the book is just great and the way it should be, it is full of anxiety and loneliness and you can almost picture yourself there, in the lighthouse.
I found parts that did describe life on the lighthouse quite interesting, however the rest of the story felt a bit muffled and unfinished to me. It felt like none of the stories were fully told and none of the characters made you feel anything towards them, there was not enough emotions and precision in it.
I did fish it fairly quick, but it still felt like it was dragging. However it made me want to find out more about what has really happened in Cornwall that time.
Overall I'd say it is below average for me.

Very atmospheric. A haunting story that keeps you guessing. An insight of how life was before lighthouses became automated, and the hard life that those shut away for weeks, and their loved ones at home, had to endure. The story is beautifully written, and you really can sense the atmosphere and the rising tensions amongst the men in the tower. The back stories are well interspersed and add depth to the characters. A very enjoyable book.

This is well-written and interesting. I like the different narrators but I thought the women characters were more rounded than the men. The mystery of the missing men is very intriguing and I like the few spooky touches although they did not have any affect on the story. The final reveal of what happened, although unexpected, is not quite convincing, slightly ambiguous and a little disappointing.

This is such an original and wonderful book. It is so beautifully written with lyrical, often poetic descriptions of the sea and the characters’ feelings that you stop to admire the prose even as you are drawn in to become a silent observer as the story unfolds.
It is not just the mystery of how three men could disappear from a locked lighthouse but an observation of how partners separated for long periods of time cope with loneliness , tragedy and their chosen isolated lives. Add to this a whispering echo of ghostliness and you have an unforgettable novel. One of the best I have read this year.

In the 1970s a 3 man lighthouse crew mysteriously disappear without a trace.
In the 1990s a young writer goes out to meet those left behind.

inspired by a real life event (in the 1900s) this is the perfect mix of plot and character driven writing. The mystery of their disappearance and uncovering what really happened pulls the story along, but is perfectly balanced by uncovering the lives of the women and families that were left behind.

Poetically written, but very engaging.

The leading character, though, is the sea - the detail is wonderful. At the heart of the novel is the real connection that so many people have had with the wild sea over the years, and the grip it has on us all.

Brilliant. Loved it.

I read the blurb for this and became intrigued by this story.
A lighthouse out at sea is visited to replace men on rotation but they find the building deserted although they have searched every available space, what has happened to the 3 men stationed there to keep the light shining.
This story is a back and forth between 1972 when this happens and 20 years later in 1992 and a writers desire for the truth and his conversations with the lamplighters wives and girlfriend to find out what may have brought this about. A great story and told through the eyes of each protagonist. A story of grief and the desire to let go of these missing men and the hope that they would some day return.
Before it all became electric based as now this was a job carried out by men and it seems such a lonely job to do, the strains on the families of these men due to the time spent away would be difficult on both sides.
The story worked throughout there was no long drawn out information. Once I was reading I became involved and wanted to solve the mystery myself.
I would recommend this to my friends and family a good solid read.

I liked the premise of this novel more than the book itself, which is always a shame. At first I found it quite engrossing and it's clearly been well researched but I thought the pacing was off and the ending was a disappointment.

I enjoyed this book, something different with many twists and turns with a surprising ending. Well written with a credible storyline, would recommend this book, a reasonable easy read.

I loved the temporary cover and also the premise of the book. I was looking forward to hunkering down with a gem. Sadly it all went pear shaped. What started with an intriguing mystery rapidly disappeared into a boring tale with elements I didn't quite see the point of (silver man? who? what? why?). I failed to connect with the female characters. The male threads were more interesting but still didn't make me feel the outcome was what would have happened.. This was too slow going and I found my attention wandering such that I had to reread bits so it took me longer than usual to finish.
Such promise, such a shame it didn't really deliver