Wildlight

by Robyn Mundy

You spend your whole time on an island looking out to sea. Perhaps what you are facing is yourself.Sixteen-year-old Stephanie West has been dragged from Sydney to remote Maatsuyker Island off the coast of Tasmania by her parents, hoping to recapture a childhood idyll and come to terms with their grief over the death of Steph's twin brother. Cut off from friends and the comforts of home, exiled to a lonely fortress and a lighthouse that bears the brunt of savage storms, the months ahead look to be filled with ghosts of the past.Steph's saviour is Tom Forrest, a 19-year-old deckhand aboard a crayfishing boat. When the weather allows, Tom visits the island, and he and Steph soon form an attraction. But Tom must conceal at all costs the illegal fishing he takes part in, orchestrated by his tyrannical brother. And he dare not dwell on his fear of the sea or his deep-worn premonition that the ocean will one day take him.Wildlight is an exquisite, vividly detailed exploration of the wayward journey of adolescence, and how the intense experience of a place can change the course of even the most well-planned life.PRAISE FOR WILDLIGHT"There is much to admire in Wildlight : the skilful unravelling of the overriding mystery and the spectacular location given life. Mundy offers compelling answers to the dramatic tension she creates, even if she leaves us curious about why." The Australian" Wildlight could easily be devoured in a weekend and leaves one with a longing to escape the city and explore Australia's natural wilderness. It is a beautifully crafted story about love, human personas, remembering the past, and finding peace." NSW Writers' Centre

Genres: Fiction, Australia, Tasmania, Contemporary

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Wild places form a big part of my life, and my writing. My novel Cold Coast is set in the high Arctic and tells the story of Svalbard's remarkable first female trapper Wanny Woldstad. Wildlight is set on Tasmania's remote Maatsuyker Island, home to Australia's loneliest lighthouse where my partner Gary and I spent ten months in isolation as caretakers and weather observers. I have wintered and summered in Antarctica, the setting for my first novel The Nature of Ice. Each year I work aboard ice-strengthened ships that head off to polar regions on adventure tourist voyages. My guiding role helped me co-author a young readers' illustrated book Epic Adventure: Epic Voyages. I am currently working on a new historical novel…you guessed it, set in a rather chilly place.

Reviews

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this tale of a family spending six months on an island as caretakers of a lighthouse and weather station. Sixteen year old Stephanie is less than happy to be there, especially during her last year at school with final exams looming and no phone reception to talk to her friends. Her mother thinks it will help them all get over the death of Stephanie's twin brother and is keen to spend time on the island where her own parents were once lighthouse keepers.

In some ways this is a coming of age story as Stephanie grows up during their sojourn and realises what she wants to do with her life. She also meets Tom, a young fisherman and has an impact on his life. The author very evocatively described the little patch of south west Tasmania where this story is set and has done her research well. Without ever being to Maatsuyker Island, I can perfectly visualise the ruggedness and the windswept cliffs with the lighthouse and weather beaten cottages clinging tight, and the huge seas swept up from the Southern Ocean during a storm to beat at the coast. Mostly this is a gentle, slow moving story with the island itself the major star.

[Joss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story about place and the way we inhabit the most remote places on Earth. To a lot of Tasmanians, Maatsuyker Island is tiny jewel, out of reach for all but the most ardent nature lovers. To me, the wilderness that makes up the South Cape, is a place where life clings on tenaciously and where the natural world slowly goes about life, death and renewal. The fact that the author Robyn Mundy spent six months on Maatsuyker before writing this book means that she is one of the few people to know this place intimately.
At first I thought that it was a young adult offering, but as I read on Maatsuyker started weaving it’s way into my thoughs. Wild places can do that. I wondered at the endurance of the fishing community that venture into danger every time they set sail, even today the Southern Ocean can be an unpredictable place. Large swells and gales are common, even in Summer.

The West family take up residency on the island for six months after the death of Stephanie’s twin brother. The family is unable to come to terms with this unbearable tragedy and sees returning to a place where her mother grew up, as a salve to their grief. For Stephanie, it is a lonely place, where the presence of a young deckhand becomes her lifeline.

Part family drama, part young romance this beautifully told story leads one on a gentle exploration on self, life, love and loss.
I loved it and gave it 5 Stars

[RitaSkeeter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the setting. I thought the author captured Tasmania really well; very rare for me to say that.

I liked Stephanie and Tom as characters. I also thought the supporting cast were strong, even when I didn't 'like' them per se.

Despite the above, I didn't particularly care for the book. It felt a bit slow and ponderous for my particular taste, and I'm not loving the ending.

Not the right book for me.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Where do you go when you’re marooned by ocean, cut off from help?’

Sixteen-year-old Stephanie West and her parents relocate from Sydney to remote Maatsuyker Island of Tasmania’s couth coast. Steph’s twin brother Callam has died, and each member of the family is grieving in their own way. Steph’s mother, Gretchen, had lived on the island as a child when her father was a lighthouse keeper and hopes to recapture her childhood idyll. Steph’s father James, an announcer with the ABC, is having problems with his voice and is taking a break from the radio. Steph, though, is devastated. Not only is she missing her friends and tackling the last year of school, but she also arrives on the island to discover there is absolutely no mobile phone coverage, and limited phone access.

Life becomes a little more bearable for Steph when she meets Tom Forrest, a nineteen-year-old working as a deckhand on his brother’s crayfishing boat. Tom has problems of his own, thanks to his brother’s penchant for illegal fishing.

I have never travelled to Maatsuyker Island, but Ms Mundy takes me there with her description of the island, the lighthouse and (especially) the weather. I can only imagine how isolated Steph must have felt before she met Tom: away from her friends, her parents preoccupied and trying to manage their own grief. And Tom. I felt sorry for Tom, caught between family loyalty and his own sense of right and wrong.

The story moves beyond Maatsuyker, through tragedy and into adulthood. And this is a journey best taken through the pages of Ms Mundy’s story, not ruined by inadvertent spoilers. I finished the novel, still partly on Maatsuyker Island observing the Southern Ocean and thinking about the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area while also wondering what life might hold in store for the characters I met there.

A beautiful novel well worth reading.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[reading is my hustle]

setting this aside for now. love the setting but this is too expository & it keeps pulling me out of the story.

[Anna Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book set in my home state. The description of Maatsuyker Island and the south west coast was stunning. The complexities of the characters and their relationships were heartbreaking but beautifully portrayed. A beautiful read.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for the snippets and descriptions of Tasmania I could get but I was slightly disappointed in the story. I would have liked to have had the relationship between Tom and Stephanie a little more fleshed out. I felt that it was skimmed over but not explored in depth. This was sixteen year old Stephanie's first love, surely the author could have devoted a bit more to that relationship. I did enjoy how the drama of what occurred unfolded and found that part of the story really captured my interest. I am still undecided about whether or not I am satisfied with the ending. I feel slightly let down but then again can understand the author's decision to end it as she did. I am fascinated now to learn more about Maatsuyker Island and I do have an image in my mind of the lighthouse, the ruggedness, the extreme weather and feel of that place.

[Rachel McEleney Freebury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I begin? What a joy to read. Wild Light caught me in a wave of words and held me in its swirl until I finished. I got caught up in the beauty of the landscape and longed to go there even though I hate the cold. Robyn's evocative images captured the raw beauty of Steph's island home. I was enthralled from start to finish and thoroughly enjoyed the novel.

[Annabel Smith]

Wonderful. Heart-filling, real and beautifully written.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this a beautifully written book and I particularly loved the insight into the rugedness and industry in Tasmania . However I felt this book read more like a young adult novel ( 15-19) .

[Guy Salvidge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this. Beautiful nature writing about Tasmania's Maatsuyker Island and the South West Track from Robyn Mundy, but also a really interesting narrative about two young people making their way in the world. Highly recommended - can't wait to read Mundy's other novel, The Nature of Ice.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wildlight was an awesome read.

Mundy’s writing style is easy flowing and very evocative. Perfect descriptions of Tasmania’s natural beauty abound on almost every page. It’s so easy to feel like you are actually there with the characters, especially when the story is located in Tasmania’s South West (which is most of the book).

It is very clear from reading this book that the author has firsthand knowledge and experience of not only the settings for this story but of being a caretaker of a lighthouse as well. Her time spent researching and experiencing settings and events for this story definitely proved worthwhile.
Not only does Mundy have a way with words but she also creates characters that are very real and full of complexities. Be it main protagonist or minor supporting character, I could easily relate to them or know of someone just like them.

The story itself gradually unfolds, and like the main character Stephanie, you start putting pieces together and discover hidden family secrets, the trials and tribulations of young love, and form an attachment to a place that can one day be so beautiful and serene, and the next wild and dangerous.

I enjoyed reading Wildlight so much and I feel it is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The vivid images produced by Mundy’s beautiful writing brought back wonderful memories for me of time spent in Tasmania. Wildlight is definitely a book that will stay with me for a long time and one that I will reread many times.

I highly recommend this book to you if you like stories set in rugged and wild Tasmania, have an interest in lighthouses, or like stories about finding your way in the world.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild Light brings to life some of my favourite landscapes with Mundy's poetic descriptions of nature. She captures that special side of Tassie that I love, the Tassie that I first fell in love with in my early years here. The novel is essentially a romance, but I was more interested in the side plots and themes of grief, burnt relationships, memories amongst others. The manner in which Steph's parents coped with the loss of their son was seen through the eyes of their daughter. Mundy cleverly links Steph's career and passion for the art of glass blowing with her experience in the light house. Some of the links were fanciful, such as Marcie's day visit to the lighthouse and the consequential romance with Tom, but I went with it. I enjoyed the ride.

[Jess Xu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Made it to page 165 and then skimmed the rest of the way... Somewhat overwritten - you are uncomfortably aware of the author's turns of phrase, etc. and I personally found it distracting. The author's characters also don't fully resonate, and the plot is full of literary fiction cliches. Two stars instead of one because I think the premise was interesting, and the first quarter/third was reasonably compelling, but it failed to meet its promise.

[Karen Trenorden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is captivating! When I read the blurb I thought of Favel Parrett’s ‘Past the Shallows’ and then realised there is a comment from her on the front cover!
The story is beautiful and bittersweet ❤️

[Marg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! Interest maintained by the varied narratives of Mundy's characters. Coastal settings seem to provide constant change as does the sea itself.

[marlin1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this, beautiful description of time and place but the ending has left me strangely unsatisfied, I just wish for a little bit more. It was nearly there.......

[Lynette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robyn Mundy’s seamless prose doesn’t hit a single discordant note throughout this story of coming of age and regret. When teenage Stephanie West is pulled into her mother’s dream of returning to her childhood home on Maatsuyker Island, it’s a wrench from Steph’s life in Sydney during her final year at high school. The island and its basic, lighthouse-keeper house holds little charm for Steph until she meets a young fisherman Tom and until the mutton birds swarm in like giants oil slicks. Just as her mother promised, Steph sees ‘the real Maatsuyker’. Mundy crafts the tale with a gracious hand, with drift dive pacing. The characters have no more control of their growing enchantment, with the island, with each other, with the great heaving ocean and the stormy sky than puppets on a string. Increasingly Steph doesn’t mind. But then everything changes. There’s a sixteen year jump and the third act is another beautiful tale as Steph and Tom try to get back to the people they were in 1999. It’s beautiful. The prose is engaging. The setting is so skilfully painted and the gentle way this author crafts troubled but good people is so satisfying. A wonderful, wonderful novel.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one long piece of descriptive writing. Robyn's use of imagery to describe the changing ocean and life on an island, lighthouse or boat is powerful and beautiful. However, at times I found it's overuse slowed the story and I just wanted to move on. Some thoughtful and prudent editing, I believe was needed. The second half of the book flowed and ebbed along nicely and I just had to keep reading. Unfortunately, I found the ending frustrating- I don't necessarily need a happy ending but so many missed chances of two people meeting was a little tedious. 3 1/2 stars

[Jeff Macpherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me want to live on a far-flung island with a lighthouse and walk the south coast track in Tasmania

[Caren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly beautiful novel! Mundy's own experience working as a volunteer on Maatsuyker Island (Tasmania) provided the intensity and deep respect for this remote area that was revealed in her stunning descriptions of the lighthouse, of the ocean, and of the South Coast Track. The best of Australian literature projects the landscape as a character, which Mundy crafted with mastery.

Seventeen year old Stephanie and her parents move to the Island as lighthouse keepers for several months, still suffering from the death of Steph's twin brother. The power of Nature and their isolation forces them to face their own personal challenges as well as the pulls on their relationships with each other. The focus is on Steph and her coming-of-age during months that will change the direction of her life forever. The love story that is built into the novel is deeply emotional, but not melodramatic, reflecting both the calm and the turbulence that characterises the landscape itself. Fate and circumstance play their parts in the development of the story, which continues past the Island years and takes the characters six years forward. With each of them, the imprint of their experience on the Island is indelible, as it is with Mundy herself.

[Lizpixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely book. The descriptions of the Tasmanian islands & the southern ocean are so beautiful, I want to go spend six months on one of them right now. The way she describes the smell of salt and teatree, the salt scrim on the windows, the gales and storms is very evocative, you can almost catch a drift of it in the air. The only criticism I have is the ending was very unsatisfying.
Stephanie is dragged to lonely Maatsuykar island off the southern coast of Tasmania, by her parents after her twin brother dies. At first she hates everything about the island, and her parents, but when she catches nineteen year old Tom in the veggie patch she finds someone who opens her eyes to how beautiful it all is, Until Tom and his brothers fishing boat is found empty and both presumed drowned. she gives up her plans to do medicine and becomes a well respected glass artist, then one day, an ad in an airline leaflet catches her eye.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Through a small number of interesting characters this book gives a glimpse into the lives of light housekeepers and modern volunteers caring for the Maatsuyker Island lighthouse, as well as the cray fisherman of the area and the terrain of the South Coast Track along Tasmania's southern coast. These themes are explored within the context of a romance which eventually consumes the entire narrative. For those who are not into romance, you can safely stop reading as soon as the story gets to 2005 ;)

[Marlish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unfortunately for now, time doesn’t permit me to write a much longer review, but suffice to that —Wildlight— by Robyn Mundy is a beautifully written and well-researched , powerful story set on an island off the South coast of Tasmanian. I loved this fine novel and look forward to reading more by this great author.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robyn Mundy has truly captured the mood in this novel about family emotional challenges and evolving young aspirations and love. The author beautifully expresses her understanding of the sea and the wilderness in this story of the journey taken by a family retreating to the past in an effort to move forward.
Highly recommended.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book . The descriptive passages of the island and ocean we beautiful and evoked an atmosphere very very well. I thought the characters were less well drawn. That may have been because at times I felt I was reading a good young adult novel.
I've given it 4 stars as the writing is so good, whether you view it as an adult or YA novel. I look forward to Robyn Mundy's next book.

[Robin Bower · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written book that blends memory, loss and history against a backdrop of the opportunity of youth. The setting is depicted with such authenticity that you can almost feel the icy wind grabbing at your jacket.

[Madeleine Naqvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maatsuyker Island is like a stage in the round and the characters who are brave enough to enter are changed by the experience of its remoteness, harshness and beauty. A wonderful story, beautifully written; I loved it.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

The descriptive nature of this novel in describing the coast and harsh weather conditions was amazing - you could really visualise it - I wanted to keep reading whenever I could - but then felt it was left unfinished

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very evocative of the Tasmanian settings. Good sense of family relationships, especially when affected by grief. Like a couple of other reviewers, I thought "young adult" novel in the early stages, but it matured as it went on.