The Lamplighters, Emma Stonex
A captivating mystery inspired by the haunting disappearance of three lighthouse keepers in Scotland in the 1900s, The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex is an impressive and lyrical debut.
Emma Stonex’s spellbinding novel takes inspiration from the disappearance of three lighthouse keepers who seemingly vanished into thin air in 1900 in the Hebrides. Although the narrative of The Lamplighters circles around discovering the ‘truth’ of what happened inside the abandoned lighthouse, this lyrical debut is so much more than a straightforward mystery.
We are introduced to the world of The Lamplighters through the appearance of a journalist keen to solve the mystery that has bewildered an entire community for two decades. We soon learn that the principle keeper, Arthur Black, and his two fellow lighthouse keepers, Bill Walker and Vincent Bourne, disappeared without trace in 1972, leaving the door locked, the table laid, and the clocks stopped at a quarter to nine.
Of course, the omnipresent presence in The Lamplighters is the sea itself. Stonex portrays the strength, unfamiliarity, and mysticism of the ever-changing sea beautifully and, notably, none of the characters are indifferent to the presence of the sea – it is either loved or hated; feared or admired. Throughout the novel, Stonex skilfully oscillates between perspectives of the lighthouse keepers and the women they left behind, as their biases, insecurities, and conflicting accounts of their interlinked lives are gradually revealed.
As the reader begins to realise that what actually happened in the past isn’t particularly relevant, we come to understand that, just as the lighthouse keepers exist both on land and within the sea – living a life of intimacy and routine far from their families – The Lamplighters exists in a place in between the natural and supernatural, understanding and belief, and truth and reality.
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