M. L. Stedman

Vavahduttava historiallinen lukuromaani perheestä, tragediasta ja rakkaudesta. Australian syrjäseuduilla satojen hehtaarien farmi on tuskin piste kartalla. Kun MacBriden sukutilan isäntä joutuu poikiensa kanssa auto-onnettomuuteen tammikuisena päivänä vuonna 1958, perheen tulevaisuus on pirstana. Matt selviää onnettomuudesta, jossa hänen isänsä ja isoveljensä kuolevat. Mattin hidasta toipumista tukevat surun murtama äiti ja sisko Rosie, perheen musta lammas. Mutta kohtalolla on perheen varalle vielä toinenkin isku. Koskettava romaani paljastaa yhteisön salaisuudet yksi kerrallaan. Se kertoo vääryyksistä mutta myös urheudesta, sinnikkyydestä ja elämänpalosta.

Sydäntäsärkevä kansainvälinen bestseller äidinrakkaudesta ja vanhempien mahdottomasta valinnasta. Ensimmäisestä maailmansodasta kotiutunut majakanvartija Tom ja hänen vaimonsa Isabel asuvat eristyksissä Australian rannikolla. Rakastuneen parin onnen täydentäisi vauva. Kipeät keskenmenot alkavat kuitenkin olla Isabelille jo liikaa. Sitten myrsky heittää rantaan veneen, jossa on miehen ruumis, naisen villatakki - ja elävä tyttövauva. Tom ja Isabel pelastavat pienokaisen ja päättävät väittää vauvaa omakseen. Tytöstä tulee heidän elämänsä valo. Mutta voiko valheelle rakennettu onni kestää? Elokuvanakin lumonnut, kaunis ja kipeä romaani koettelee oikean ja väärän rajoja.

Ny bok av författaren till romansuccén "Fyren mellan haven"! Västra Australien, 1958. En lastbil skumpar fram genom det vidsträckta landskapet. Vid ratten sitter Phil MacBride, vid sidan av honom hans två nästan vuxna söner Warren och Matt. Kvar på gården finns hustrun Lorna och dottern Rose. Familjen MacBride lever på en plats där människan är liten och naturen mäktig och nyckfull. Hittills har de varit förskonade från större katastrofer. Men den här dagen, en dag som börjar som alla andra, ska allt förändras. På några sekunder är familjen krossad, och när en olycka väl drabbat dem följer snart fler. Händelserna 1958 ska döma somliga till döden, andra till ett liv tyngt av ånger, och få en liten pojke att växa upp utan att känna sina båda föräldrar. ”Ett liv långt borta” är en storslagen familjesaga om kärlek och skuld, om mod och försakelse, om tidens gång och om att vakta sina hemligheter för att överleva.

The mesmeric new novel from the author of the award-winning global bestseller, THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS ____________ 'Heart-wrenching and beautifully set. A gorgeous feast of a novel about family, community, love and the lengths we will go to save them all' RACHEL JOYCE, author of The Homemade God 'A big, bold story of tragedy and resilience. I was completely swept away' BONNIE GARMUS, author of Lessons in Chemistry 'One of those rare books that fill the soul' DONAL RYAN, author of Heart be at Peace and The Spinning Heart 'Truly a masterpiece. The kind of book you will remember for the rest of your life, and I love the very bones of it' JOANNA CANNON, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep 'Epic, grand, intimate and aching. I loved it' MIRANDA COWLEY HELLER, author of The Paper Palace ____________ Western Australia, 1958. A truck rumbles along a lonely outback road. A moment's inattention, and in a few muddled seconds the lives of the MacBride family are shattered. Instead of leaving them to heal, fate comes back for them in a twist of consequences that will cause one of them to lose their life, and another to sacrifice theirs for the sake of an innocent child. Set in the expanse of a vast and flat landscape, where the weather is a capricious god and a million-acre sheep station is barely a dot on the map, A Far-flung Life explores the hearts of a handful of isolated souls and the secrets they shield in order to survive. Capturing a family, a community, a generation, M L Stedman tells of the many ways humans can do each other wrong and how we move on when things can't be put right. With shimmering prose and a delicious wit, the mysteries of being human are laid bare in this hopeful meditation on time and resilience and the lengths we go to to protect what we love. ***** Praise for The Light Between Oceans: 'An extraordinary book...Unforgettable' Guardian 'A moving tale . . . prepare to weep'New York Times 'A moving tale. One of this year's must-reads' Stylist Magazine

From the author of the acclaimed bestseller The Light Between Oceans comes a breathtaking and epic novel set in the vast outback of Australia--about tragedy, family secrets, and the enduring power of love. When we do something that can't be undone or mended, how do we go on living? How do we find our North Star when there is no right answer? These are the questions at the center of M. L. Stedman's unforgettable and magisterial new novel, A Far-flung Life. From the author of the beloved and bestselling The Light Between Oceans, this is a sweeping and epic story of a family, a tragedy, and the aftermath that reverberates for decades. Remote Western Australia, 1958: here, for generations, the MacBrides have lived on a vast sheep station, Meredith Downs. It is a million acres, an ocean of arid land. On an ordinary day, on a lonely road, under the unending blue sky, patriarch Phil MacBride swerves to avoid a kangaroo. In seconds the lives of the entire MacBride family are shattered. And then, tragedy revisits when a twist of consequences claims the life of one sibling, and leads another to give up everything for the sake of an innocent child. Matt, the youngest MacBride, is plunged into a moral and emotional journey for which there is no map, no guide. The secrets at the heart of this gutting and beautiful story force him to choose between love and duty, sacrifice and happiness. A Far-flung Life is a tale about family and belonging, fate and time. It is about people trying to do their best, and each, for private reasons, seeking shelter from the storm of life. Can a fleeting moment unravel a whole life, mar it indelibly and irrevocably? Can compassion, resilience and forgiveness allow us to come to terms with our human imperfections? These are the questions Stedman asks in A Far-flung Life, her profoundly moving, uplifting, and luminous new novel about what the heart can endure for the sake of love.

From the author of the acclaimed bestseller The Light Between Oceans comes a breathtaking and epic novel set in the vast outback of Australia--about tragedy, family secrets, and the enduring power of love. When we do something that can't be undone or mended, how do we go on living? How do we find our North Star when there is no right answer? These are the questions at the center of M. L. Stedman's unforgettable and magisterial new novel, A Far-flung Life. From the author of the beloved and bestselling The Light Between Oceans, this is a sweeping and epic story of a family, a tragedy, and the aftermath that reverberates for decades. Remote Western Australia, 1958: here, for generations, the MacBrides have lived on a vast sheep station, Meredith Downs. It is a million acres, an ocean of arid land. On an ordinary day, on a lonely road, under the unending blue sky, patriarch Phil MacBride swerves to avoid a kangaroo. In seconds the lives of the entire MacBride family are shattered. And then, tragedy revisits when a twist of consequences claims the life of one sibling, and leads another to give up everything for the sake of an innocent child. Matt, the youngest MacBride, is plunged into a moral and emotional journey for which there is no map, no guide. The secrets at the heart of this gutting and beautiful story force him to choose between love and duty, sacrifice and happiness. A Far-flung Life is a tale about family and belonging, fate and time. It is about people trying to do their best, and each, for private reasons, seeking shelter from the storm of life. Can a fleeting moment unravel a whole life, mar it indelibly and irrevocably? Can compassion, resilience and forgiveness allow us to come to terms with our human imperfections? These are the questions Stedman asks in A Far-flung Life, her profoundly moving, uplifting, and luminous new novel about what the heart can endure for the sake of love.

The mesmeric new novel from the author of the award-winning global bestseller, THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANSWestern Australia, 1958. A truck rumbles along a lonely outback road. A moment’s inattention, and in a few muddled seconds the lives of the MacBride family are shattered.Instead of leaving them to heal, fate comes back for them in a twist of consequences that will cause one of them to lose their life, and another to sacrifice theirs for the sake of an innocent child.Set in the expanse of a vast and flat landscape, where the weather is a capricious god and a million-acre sheep station is barely a dot on the map, A Far-flung Life explores the hearts of a handful of isolated souls and the secrets they shield in order to survive.Capturing a family, a community, a generation, M L Stedman tells of the many ways humans can do each other wrong and how we move on when things can’t be put right. With shimmering prose and a delicious wit, the mysteries of being human are laid bare in this hopeful meditation on time and resilience and the lengths we go to to protect what we love.*****Praise for The Light Between Oceans:'An extraordinary book…Unforgettable' Guardian'A moving tale . . . prepare to weep' New York Times‘A moving tale. One of this year's must-reads’ Stylist Magazine

Efter fyra år vid fronten söker Tom Sherbourne lugn och mening som fyrvaktare på ön Janus Rock, längst ut på Australiens sydvästra kust. Med sig har han sin unga hustru Isabel, vars längtan efter ett barn förblir ouppfylld. En dag driver en båt i land. I den finns en död man och ett spädbarn som fortfarande lever. Mot alla regler bestämmer sig paret för att ta hand om barnet som sitt eget. Men flera år senare, när de återvänder till fastlandet, får de veta att deras beslut har förstört någon annans liv. Fyren mellan haven är en gripande berättelse om kärlek, skuld och förlåtelse.

A boat washes up on the shore of a remote lighthouse keeper's island. It holds a dead man - and a crying baby. The only two islanders, Tom and his wife Izzy, are about to make a devastating decision. They break the rules and follow their hearts. What happens next will break yours.

The years-long New York Times bestseller and major motion picture from Spielberg's Dreamworks is "irresistible...seductive...with a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page" (O, The Oprah Magazine). After four harrowi

The years-long New York Times bestseller soon to be a major motion picture from Spielberg's Dreamworks that is "irresistible...seductive...with a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page" (O, The Oprah Magazine). After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day's journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby's cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. Tom, who keeps meticulous records and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel insists the baby is a "gift from God," and against Tom's judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

Vest-Australia, 1958. En lastebil dundrer av gårde langs en øde vei i utmarka. Ved rattet sitter Phil MacBride, ved siden av ham de nesten voksne sønnene Warren og Matt. Hjemme på gården venter Lorna og datteren Rose. Et hvit løgn, et øyeblikks uoppmerksomhet - og livet til familien MacBride er revet i stykker for alltid. Og når en ulykke først inntreffer, følger gjerne flere i kjølvannet. En hastig avgjørelse får grusomme følger, og fører til at en flykter, en gir opp livet, og til at en liten gutt må vokse opp uten å kjenne noen av foreldrene. Et liv langt borte er en storslått fortelling om en familie over tre generasjoner, som utspiller seg i et vidstrakt og flatt landskap, der været oppfører seg som en lunefull gud, og hvor en sauefarm på en million mål knapt er synlig på kartet. I et usedvanlig vakkert språk, med varm humor og dyp innsikt skildrer M.L. Stedman hva den store sorgen - og kjærligheten - kan gjøre med oss. Og hvordan noen mennesker makter å kjempe seg videre når det ikke finnes noen vei tilbake.