Lantern Light

by Jeanette Grant-Thomson

Ali and Dave are teaching at Barrington Place in New Ireland, surrounded by equatorial jungle. (This is set in an actual school where the author taught). They enjoy evenings around the flickering lantern light and here Ali and Tessa vie for loveable larrikin Dave's affection. Ali longs for a challenge but Dave is even more restless and goes with Craig on a dangerous trek. They do not return. What has become of them? In her desperation, Ali remembers the God her mother believes in and the bible tucked away in her suitcase. Her life is to change even more than she dreamt.

292 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2014

Reviews

[Anusha Atukorala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeanette Grant Thompson’s novel ‘Lantern Light’ was a heart warming story set in Papua New Guinea. The main characters Ali, Tessa and Dave came alive as the story progressed. The experiences of these young people evoked a desire in me the reader to experience such a life myself. The story moved slowly at first but soon took off with a few interesting twists and turns to make it a fascinating tale. The unexpected ending was worth waiting for. A book to savour.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lantern Light by Jeanette Grant-Thomson is at times fascinating and times gripping. Set on the cusp of Papua New Guinea's Independence in the late 1970s, it revolves around the ex-pat single teachers of Barrington Place, a school for local girls on New Ireland. The book explores the before and after of an adventure gone tragically wrong for two of the teachers, mostly seen through Ali's eyes.

Lantern Light draws from many (but obviously not all) of the author's own experiences in Brisbane and New Ireland which accounts for the strong sense of place that permeates the book - the little details, the sights, sounds and smells, the foibles of the different characters - so that one is transported to this magical place surrounded by the jungle or sitting in the glow of the lantern light at night. It is also a tale of unrequited love and loss, of hope deferred, and of radical changes and new beginnings.

The suspense gradually builds up in the first half of the book (not unlike Picnic at Hanging Rock) and the aftermath of the tragedy weighs heavily in the second part. In many ways, it's an emotional suspense on a slow burn. It also has a thread of spirituality and faith, which becomes more prominent towards the end of the story.

The story is told mostly in the Ali's narrative voice and perspective. The prose is descriptive and easy to read and I cared about the characters. At a couple of points, I felt my engagement lag for a page or two, but was then pulled back into the story, turning pages to find out what happened next. I would have liked to have seen more of the PNG nationals as more than background characters, and warmed more to Craig than to Dave (poor Craig deserved more) but overall I thoroughly enjoyed the story and am looking forward to reading more of from this author.

[Arlene Dodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found 'Lantern Light' a most enjoyable read. I loved the sights, the sounds and the smells of this tropical setting. The description at times was captivating. I thought the development of the main characters, Ali and Tessa, Dave and Jon, made them interesting and very real. Their personal and relational interactions in an almost cloistered environment drew me in to their world.

The book began slowly as the scene was set, but then the story and the characters gripped me as they shared the real-life struggles and issues that they faced. The reality of God touching lives struck deep chords with me and I like the fact that it is not typical Christian fiction.

I thought that the shift in location -tropical Papua New Guinea to Brisbane in the latter part of the book - added depth and interest. I admit I shed a few tears and definitely felt I had lost a few special friends when I had finished reading the book. A sequel to come perhaps?

[Adele Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Lantern Light” is a sophisticated story of adventure, friendship, love, loss and faith, that transports its readers from the metropolitan streets of “groovy” 1970s Brisbane, into the vivid, “hot, green, world” of New Ireland, in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Grant-Thomson’s writing is accessible and brings a unique and imbibing sense of space to the reader, providing an intimate “in-the-moment” read, where you feel as if you are there with the characters around the hurricane lantern sharing stories in one of the simple houses where the teachers lived. The multi-layered complexity of this novel is carefully woven to draw the reader further into the lives of the group of young teachers: Ali, Tessa, Dave and Craig, who become fast friends and, at times, rivals through their common teaching position in PNG and the unsettling dynamics that begin to sprout when Dave grows restless for lack of an “on the edge” challenge. Tessa and Dave grow increasingly attached, despite Tessa’s long term nearly fiancé Jon back in Australia, and Craig’s affection for Ali (who likes Dave) becomes obvious. When Dave resolves to make a dangerous trek on their term break, tensions rise. Despite a strong sense of foreboding, Craig agrees to accompany Dave, despite his lessor survival skills, but they don’t return. The world Ali has loved becomes a dark, ominous place she must escape. But even a world away, an unanswered question constantly eats away at her: what happened to the men?
Four-and-a-half stars