I was quite drawn to this dark tale set in and around a lighthouse in Cornwall in 1972. Three men working there in their duty as keepers, disapear from it despite it being locked from within. Inside are found set places for a last meal, a diiner for three, but no clue as to why it did not take place nor where the would be diners went. For the next couple of decades which follow their surviving partners, their wives and childrten, lead fractured broken lives. the original event becomes a media sensation but no answers are found. Into that the ownersw of the lighthouse and employers of the missing men construct an explanation which blackens the name of the youngest member of the trio, scapegoating him because of his prison record and also because it is the easiest option. Buying the silence of the mens widows by the payment of a conditional pension.
The lamplighters is a well written novel with complex but believable characters. With the isolated lamphouse proving a great location for the mysterious goings on. I have felt drawn to lighthouses and their stark presence against a watery horizon. I think it probably stems from a Doctor Who story; The Horror Of Fang Rock. Way back in 1977 as The Doctor and Leela are trapped by a deadly alien presence on a fog bound islet. It is an absolute classic, with many Whovian tropes. Most especially the remote base under siege scenario.
In an equally strange way the surviving families of the missing men find themselves isolated and under siege. By socila expectancy and constrained by the need of a controling elite to keep control of a narrative which better suits their purpose. A strangely familar scenario for so many of us in these strange days. It is only when these women and their families push back against this narrative that they begin to find some piece. A quantum of solace, so to speak.
Past relationships are discovered not to be as first surmissed. As first suggested by a bought and paid for media establishment. Answers do not come easy. it takes courage to face those truths.I could see this book having a borad appeal as written by Emma Stonex.
Her story set in a lighthouse proving illuminating.
