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The Lighthouse: A Novel
Ethan McQuarry is a young lighthouse keeper on a tiny island, the rugged outcropping of easternmost Cape Breton Island on the Atlantic Ocean. A man without any family, he sees himself as a silent vigilant, performing his duties courageously year after year, with an admirable sense of responsibility. He cherishes his solitude and is grateful that his interactions with human beings are rare. Even so, he is haunted by his aloneness in the world and by a feeling that his life is meaningless. His courage, his integrity, his love of the sea and wildlife, of practical skills and of learning are, in the end, not enough. He is faced with internal storms and sometimes literal storms of terrifying power. From time to time he becomes aware that messengers are sent to him from what he calls the awakeness in existence, the listeningness. But he cannot at first recognize them as messengers nor understand what they might be telling him, until he finds himself caught up in catastrophic events, and begins to see the mysterious undercurrents of reality--and the hidden face of love. They that go down to the sea in ships, trading upon the waters, they see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.
- Psalm 107: 23
- Psalm 107: 23
201 pages, Hardcover
Published August 31, 2020
74 people are currently reading
703 people want to read
About the author
Michael D. O'Brien
45 books838 followersMichael D. O'Brien is a Roman Catholic author, artist, and frequent essayist and lecturer on faith and culture, living in Combermere, Ontario, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
October 3, 2020
First off at about 200 pages this is certainly the shortest of his novels by an order of magnitude.
I was quickly pulled into this novel and pretty much did not come up for air until I finished it. The story is both simple along with delving into the complexity of human nature. His novels often involved deeply wounded people trying to make their way in the world. In this case, the backstory is, a young man who does not know who his father is and his mother is out of the picture in her own woundedness.
He comes to be an apprentice at a lighthouse and ends up making this his life. Alone on an island with the normal longings for love and family. This is partly sublimated in his wood sculpturing and outdoor activities. Yet this longing is revealed in his sculpturing. Mainly keeping to himself with rare excursions off the island for supplies.
The story picks up with encounters with a series of visitors to the island.
There are parts of the story where you know exactly where it is going, especially if you have read his other novels. There are places where you are surprised. Like all of his novels, there are aspects that are deeply meditative. There is a lot under the surface. I always fall in love with his characters.
I was quickly pulled into this novel and pretty much did not come up for air until I finished it. The story is both simple along with delving into the complexity of human nature. His novels often involved deeply wounded people trying to make their way in the world. In this case, the backstory is, a young man who does not know who his father is and his mother is out of the picture in her own woundedness.
He comes to be an apprentice at a lighthouse and ends up making this his life. Alone on an island with the normal longings for love and family. This is partly sublimated in his wood sculpturing and outdoor activities. Yet this longing is revealed in his sculpturing. Mainly keeping to himself with rare excursions off the island for supplies.
The story picks up with encounters with a series of visitors to the island.
There are parts of the story where you know exactly where it is going, especially if you have read his other novels. There are places where you are surprised. Like all of his novels, there are aspects that are deeply meditative. There is a lot under the surface. I always fall in love with his characters.
December 18, 2020
This might be his best yet. Not epic and sprawling as some of his novels can be, there is a tautness to this account of a young man drawn to the mystery of the sea and the solitary life of a lighthouse keeper, whose life, though rather ordinary in the daily run of things, is also a search for meaning and the mystery behind the mundane.
December 29, 2020
Hard to summarize: unlike other O’Brien novels I’ve read, this one is very understated and quite limited in its spiritual musings. But it’s truly excellent, a wonderful story of one man and his life as a lighthouse keeper. O’Brien is brilliant and inspiring in a way that defies synopsis.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
March 6, 2024
Michael O’Brien just creates real characters. Another book that just reveals a part of the human heart.
June 21, 2024
The reader needs to trust the author in the first pages through a slow build-up but as details began to weave together and the story took shape, I found myself deeply invested in the soul struggles of the main character, a lighthouse keeper. 5 stars, not for artistic perfection, but for a profoundly beautiful and moving story with moments of artistry. Perhaps this book surpasses his others. Now I want to reread them to decide.
November 28, 2022
Achingly beautiful. Character and setting driven instead of plot driven. O'Brien's own artistic prowess shines through the character's carvings and paintings, revealing the artist's paradoxical desire and fear to create and share.
The story makes the reclusive character winsome and attractive, not eccentric or odd, "anchored in simple tasks, learning things, and seeing wonders." The plot line is fairly flat and I knew something was going to happen to disturb that and I wasn't wrong.
I was sad at the ending but in a strange way, the anticlimax was appropriate if indeed the story was designed to bring readers to reflection. The author's brief closing comments and verse from Revelation helped wrap it up well.
The story makes the reclusive character winsome and attractive, not eccentric or odd, "anchored in simple tasks, learning things, and seeing wonders." The plot line is fairly flat and I knew something was going to happen to disturb that and I wasn't wrong.
I was sad at the ending but in a strange way, the anticlimax was appropriate if indeed the story was designed to bring readers to reflection. The author's brief closing comments and verse from Revelation helped wrap it up well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2021
I just finished reading and I didn't expected this to end this way. It was beautiful but at the same time leaving things a bit unresolved. It is not all nearly tied up in a bow but I am ok with that.
Like I have mentioned before The Island of the world has been my favorite and I really liked The Father's tale and still am thinking about those two months almost a year after reading them. And this book will be on my mind too
Like I have mentioned before The Island of the world has been my favorite and I really liked The Father's tale and still am thinking about those two months almost a year after reading them. And this book will be on my mind too
March 19, 2024
On the surface level, nothing really seems to happen in this book, but everything happens internally. O’Brien is subtle, yet by the end of the book you can see that the Lord pursued Ethan to the very end. O’Brien’s story is so close to reality, the reader can’t help but love and relate to the protagonist. A lovely short read.
September 26, 2020
Another beautiful little novel from Michael D. O'Brien. It brought tears to my eyes. Read it.
January 22, 2025
Significantly improved in the last 30 pages.
October 13, 2020
A beautifully written literary novel about a man without any family who becomes a lighthouse keeper in a remote area of Nova Scotia: on a tiny island off eastern Cape Breton Island (that's three layers of islands if you're keeping track). He can go weeks, or even months in winter, without seeing or speaking to a single soul. It's mentioned that he suffered a painful childhood and was on his own by his mid-teens, so solitude is not a burden for him. But little by little, he opens up to some of the people who find their way to the island and some who live in the nearby town where he purchases groceries and other supplies. And as the years pass, he finds unexpected connections with some of them, and develops unexpected artistic talents that fulfill his unspoken need for the family he lacks.
November 5, 2025
It made me upset. I loved it; I hated it. How are authors even allowed to do this to us!?
Things I loved about The Lighthouse: the introspection in the main character's thought life, the value placed on relationships, the stark portrayals of unhealthy people versus healthy people and their interactions with the mc.
Things that made me cry: the ending.
Be forewarned, the plot builds slowly.
Things I loved about The Lighthouse: the introspection in the main character's thought life, the value placed on relationships, the stark portrayals of unhealthy people versus healthy people and their interactions with the mc.
Things that made me cry: the ending.
Be forewarned, the plot builds slowly.
April 13, 2021
A well-written, beautiful tale that unfolds gently but still had me eagerly turning the pages.
September 19, 2024
"There are only two loves. Love of oneself, or love of other living creatures. Behind love itself there is nothing but suffering and evil. Behind the love of neighbor is the Good, there is God. Every time man loves something that is not subject to him it is, consciously or not, an act of faith in God. There are only two loves: love of self, or love of God." "Bodies and Souls" by Maxence Van der Meersch Maxence Van der Meersch taken from St. Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo.
Ladies and gentlemen, I still have 9% battery left and, I think another review can be written. I read this one many weeks ago in November. This book "The Lighthouse" has a history (this title should not be confused with an identical one by the ominous English writer Virginia Woolf To the Lighthouse). Michael D. O'Brien is well known to any collector of Catholic writers. He is one of the most recognized Catholic writers today. A novelist and brilliant Canadian painter, he was one of the bestsellers of @ignatius_press and, this led the publisher of Don Carmelo López-Arias libros libres to translate his dystopian saga of the last days into Spanish. The most interesting books are the dystopian novel "Father Elijah: An Apocalypse 550996], its prequel "Sophia House" Sophia House and its sequel "Father Elijah in Jerusalem" Elijah in Jerusalem more or less told us the prelude to the rise of the antichrist.
Being one of the most brilliant followers of Robert Hugh Benson and, he has greatly influenced my friend @jorgesaezcriado especially in his wonderful novel "Apocalypse on the Day of the Lord" which is also a sequel to another novel of his "Crying Blood"Apocalypse: The Day of the Lord Crying Blood. This novel by Father Elias was in the vein of Robert Hugh Benson Robert Hugh Benson, Hugo Wast or, Leonardo Castellani Leonardo Castellani (to name a few). The novels of Michael D. O'Brien are very well written, although the endings tend to get a little out of control. I create a character: Monsignor Stangsby, inspired by G. K. Chesterton G.K. Chesterton kills him and, surprisingly, the novel does nothing but get better, except at the end when something is shipwrecked. In an interview of a book called "New Christians of Europe" by Lorenzo Fazzini New Christians of Europe Lorenzo Fazzini (one of the best books that have been published. It was published by Editorial Cristiandad and, a must-read). Joseph Pearce Joseph Pearce who was one of the Catholic writers of the book at that time when asked about current Catholic writers confessed that he was more interested in the old ones, but that he said that both Ron Hansen Ron Hansen (incomprehensible that it has not yet been published in Spain since, is the author among other books of the one who inspired the film "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" [1168960] a twilight western that gave a Volpi Cup to Brad Pitt and almost gave the Oscar to Casey Affleck). The other writer he mentioned was Michael D. O'Brien. Both Jorge Sáez Criado Jorge Sáez Criado and I wanted his novels "Teophilos" Theophilos: A Novel and "Voyage to Alpha Centauri" Voyage to Alpha Centauri by Michael D. O'Brien hopefully one day both books will see the light of day in Spanish ("Teophilos" paradoxically is translated into French).
I never thought after that that I would read another work by Michael D. O'Brien until @edicionesrialp translated "The Lighthouse" which is the story of a Nova Scotia lighthouse keeper from Brendan Harbor named Ethan McQuarry. The description of the town reminded me of Herman Melville's Nantuckent Herman Melville. The port atmosphere is wonderfully well described. However, what may discourage the reader is that the theme is not as epic or grandiose as the dystopian saga of the "children of the last days" https://www.goodreads.com/series/6765... we find ourselves in front of a smaller, more modest and humble story. With a more intimate and costumbrist stroke. You can say and, there is the great defect that takes a long time to start and, it is very descriptive (something that surprised me about Michael D. O'Brien because what I had previously read to him had been characterized by the opposite). At first it focuses on Ethan's lonely life and, on his inner experiences, on his longings. Unlike the other novels I've read this one takes time to catch the reader (this being for me its main defect. If Scheherazade had told it to Sultan Schariar, her husband, she would have lost her mind because she could not capture the interest of the person to whom the story is told from the beginning, in this case the reader Arabian Nights), but unlike Father Elias, it is not badly finished.
This story reminded me of that adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel "About a Boy" About a Boy played by Hugh Grant (much better actor than he seems) and, now famous Nicholas Hoult (for playing a zombie). If I remember correctly, this movie was directed by Paul and Chris Weitz (before sticking it with the failed compass, I mean golden The Golden Compass). The moral of the story is the same: we are not islands and it is an attack on individualism. I don't think the proponents of Ayn Rand's theories of selfishness The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism Ayn Rand Ayn Rand I am thinking, for example, of James Clavell (today famous for his Shōgun miniseries "Shogun")). The protagonist is an orphaned boy with a father who disengaged from the family with an alcoholic mother who has found her life in the Lighthouse and who has worked on a boat called the puffin named after the local birds and who is also a sculptor. I don't know if Michael D. O'Brien has projected some of himself onto the main character. But, certain encounters with other people will make the protagonist change from a family of children, with a Catholic woman who often invites him to her house and, who is Catholic, some children who suffer a breakdown, some Japanese travelers (passage worth reading), the destruction of the church by an arsonist (here you can see the author's Catholicism), also his relationship with an old alcoholic, the subject of iconoclasm or odium fide is discussed. From the encounter with that family on the farm it is seen that Ethan (the same name of the protagonist of "Searchers" "Centaurs of the Desert" by Alan Le May The Searchers ) is not a steppe wolf and seeks to be part of something like the Lancelot of the "First Knight" "To be something more than oneself"The First Gentleman. The meeting that I may have changed the most is the one he has with Ross Campbell at two different moments in the narrative (it is not clear to me what the relationship is between these two characters and, I cannot say more, because it would blow up the plot). Not all meetings will be good as when it has to scare away unruly tourists, there is also a criticism against todayism and, for the obsession with computerizing everything and replacing workers with machines, dispensing with the human factor. So maybe Ethan McQuarry would have had to look for another job. With all the encounter that forces him to question his life and unleash his inner conflicts, it will be the one he has with Ross Campbell, who has a life suspiciously similar to Ethan McQuarry, and to ask him if with that existence he leads, he has not made the mistakes he wanted to avoid. It comes back to something that I have talked about in other reviews and that is the fact that children repeat the sins of their parents or, at least, they return to visit them. The ending is not as emotional as the wonderful "Shiokari Pass" by Ayako Miura Shiokari Pass (which has a similar ending, but the one in the Japanese writer's novel is much better), but the conclusion is the same, in the end it is the love of others that dignifies us.
Before the end I have quite mixed emotions with this novel, I think I have been too benevolent with this novel because of the name of the writer. I think that if it had been written by another more unknown writer I would have been much harsher in my qualification. This novel has inspired in me a strange feeling of déjà vu as if I had already read it, or had seen it elsewhere, although I can't remember where, however it must be taken into account that I am not against an author dealing with the same subject and I even improved it. Another flaw that I could find in this novel is that I am not surprised by the development or the outcome, although I do not consider it a failure at all. Michael D. O'Brien has a craft and he has shown me this in other novels and, if I am so him it is not because I have a mania for him but on the contrary because I am enormously aware of his talent and I know that he can do it much better. In fact I maintain that if he or my beloved Juan Manuel de Prada Juan Manuel de Prada wrote a fantasy novel they would achieve an extraordinary impact, why not dream of it when Michael D.O'Brien has already written a science fiction novel? With everything to the greats and, for me, Michael D. O'Brien is, you have to demand of him because I know he can write much better stories and, more so considering that Michael D. O'Brien is one of the best novelists of today. My final grade is (3.5/5). PD. I think that the purpose of the story is captured in the final quote of the wonderful novel by the French writer Maxence van der Meersch Bodies and Souls Corps et âmes. Hopefully one day they will translate it into English or it will be republished and Goodreads users and the English-speaking public will be able to know it. PD II. Another novel by Michael D. has recently been published in Spanish. O'Brien published by the publishing house Palabra about the interesting figure of the Prophet Ezekiel "By The Rivers of Babylon" By the Rivers of Babylon: A Novel and, a copy has been reserved, I hope I like it more than this novel that has been commented on. Surely yes, because I love Biblical Stories, or the Sword and Sandals known in Europe as peplums, hence my interest in this novel by Michael D. O'Brien.
Ladies and gentlemen, I still have 9% battery left and, I think another review can be written. I read this one many weeks ago in November. This book "The Lighthouse" has a history (this title should not be confused with an identical one by the ominous English writer Virginia Woolf To the Lighthouse). Michael D. O'Brien is well known to any collector of Catholic writers. He is one of the most recognized Catholic writers today. A novelist and brilliant Canadian painter, he was one of the bestsellers of @ignatius_press and, this led the publisher of Don Carmelo López-Arias libros libres to translate his dystopian saga of the last days into Spanish. The most interesting books are the dystopian novel "Father Elijah: An Apocalypse 550996], its prequel "Sophia House" Sophia House and its sequel "Father Elijah in Jerusalem" Elijah in Jerusalem more or less told us the prelude to the rise of the antichrist.
Being one of the most brilliant followers of Robert Hugh Benson and, he has greatly influenced my friend @jorgesaezcriado especially in his wonderful novel "Apocalypse on the Day of the Lord" which is also a sequel to another novel of his "Crying Blood"Apocalypse: The Day of the Lord Crying Blood. This novel by Father Elias was in the vein of Robert Hugh Benson Robert Hugh Benson, Hugo Wast or, Leonardo Castellani Leonardo Castellani (to name a few). The novels of Michael D. O'Brien are very well written, although the endings tend to get a little out of control. I create a character: Monsignor Stangsby, inspired by G. K. Chesterton G.K. Chesterton kills him and, surprisingly, the novel does nothing but get better, except at the end when something is shipwrecked. In an interview of a book called "New Christians of Europe" by Lorenzo Fazzini New Christians of Europe Lorenzo Fazzini (one of the best books that have been published. It was published by Editorial Cristiandad and, a must-read). Joseph Pearce Joseph Pearce who was one of the Catholic writers of the book at that time when asked about current Catholic writers confessed that he was more interested in the old ones, but that he said that both Ron Hansen Ron Hansen (incomprehensible that it has not yet been published in Spain since, is the author among other books of the one who inspired the film "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" [1168960] a twilight western that gave a Volpi Cup to Brad Pitt and almost gave the Oscar to Casey Affleck). The other writer he mentioned was Michael D. O'Brien. Both Jorge Sáez Criado Jorge Sáez Criado and I wanted his novels "Teophilos" Theophilos: A Novel and "Voyage to Alpha Centauri" Voyage to Alpha Centauri by Michael D. O'Brien hopefully one day both books will see the light of day in Spanish ("Teophilos" paradoxically is translated into French).
I never thought after that that I would read another work by Michael D. O'Brien until @edicionesrialp translated "The Lighthouse" which is the story of a Nova Scotia lighthouse keeper from Brendan Harbor named Ethan McQuarry. The description of the town reminded me of Herman Melville's Nantuckent Herman Melville. The port atmosphere is wonderfully well described. However, what may discourage the reader is that the theme is not as epic or grandiose as the dystopian saga of the "children of the last days" https://www.goodreads.com/series/6765... we find ourselves in front of a smaller, more modest and humble story. With a more intimate and costumbrist stroke. You can say and, there is the great defect that takes a long time to start and, it is very descriptive (something that surprised me about Michael D. O'Brien because what I had previously read to him had been characterized by the opposite). At first it focuses on Ethan's lonely life and, on his inner experiences, on his longings. Unlike the other novels I've read this one takes time to catch the reader (this being for me its main defect. If Scheherazade had told it to Sultan Schariar, her husband, she would have lost her mind because she could not capture the interest of the person to whom the story is told from the beginning, in this case the reader Arabian Nights), but unlike Father Elias, it is not badly finished.
This story reminded me of that adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel "About a Boy" About a Boy played by Hugh Grant (much better actor than he seems) and, now famous Nicholas Hoult (for playing a zombie). If I remember correctly, this movie was directed by Paul and Chris Weitz (before sticking it with the failed compass, I mean golden The Golden Compass). The moral of the story is the same: we are not islands and it is an attack on individualism. I don't think the proponents of Ayn Rand's theories of selfishness The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism Ayn Rand Ayn Rand I am thinking, for example, of James Clavell (today famous for his Shōgun miniseries "Shogun")). The protagonist is an orphaned boy with a father who disengaged from the family with an alcoholic mother who has found her life in the Lighthouse and who has worked on a boat called the puffin named after the local birds and who is also a sculptor. I don't know if Michael D. O'Brien has projected some of himself onto the main character. But, certain encounters with other people will make the protagonist change from a family of children, with a Catholic woman who often invites him to her house and, who is Catholic, some children who suffer a breakdown, some Japanese travelers (passage worth reading), the destruction of the church by an arsonist (here you can see the author's Catholicism), also his relationship with an old alcoholic, the subject of iconoclasm or odium fide is discussed. From the encounter with that family on the farm it is seen that Ethan (the same name of the protagonist of "Searchers" "Centaurs of the Desert" by Alan Le May The Searchers ) is not a steppe wolf and seeks to be part of something like the Lancelot of the "First Knight" "To be something more than oneself"The First Gentleman. The meeting that I may have changed the most is the one he has with Ross Campbell at two different moments in the narrative (it is not clear to me what the relationship is between these two characters and, I cannot say more, because it would blow up the plot). Not all meetings will be good as when it has to scare away unruly tourists, there is also a criticism against todayism and, for the obsession with computerizing everything and replacing workers with machines, dispensing with the human factor. So maybe Ethan McQuarry would have had to look for another job. With all the encounter that forces him to question his life and unleash his inner conflicts, it will be the one he has with Ross Campbell, who has a life suspiciously similar to Ethan McQuarry, and to ask him if with that existence he leads, he has not made the mistakes he wanted to avoid. It comes back to something that I have talked about in other reviews and that is the fact that children repeat the sins of their parents or, at least, they return to visit them. The ending is not as emotional as the wonderful "Shiokari Pass" by Ayako Miura Shiokari Pass (which has a similar ending, but the one in the Japanese writer's novel is much better), but the conclusion is the same, in the end it is the love of others that dignifies us.
Before the end I have quite mixed emotions with this novel, I think I have been too benevolent with this novel because of the name of the writer. I think that if it had been written by another more unknown writer I would have been much harsher in my qualification. This novel has inspired in me a strange feeling of déjà vu as if I had already read it, or had seen it elsewhere, although I can't remember where, however it must be taken into account that I am not against an author dealing with the same subject and I even improved it. Another flaw that I could find in this novel is that I am not surprised by the development or the outcome, although I do not consider it a failure at all. Michael D. O'Brien has a craft and he has shown me this in other novels and, if I am so him it is not because I have a mania for him but on the contrary because I am enormously aware of his talent and I know that he can do it much better. In fact I maintain that if he or my beloved Juan Manuel de Prada Juan Manuel de Prada wrote a fantasy novel they would achieve an extraordinary impact, why not dream of it when Michael D.O'Brien has already written a science fiction novel? With everything to the greats and, for me, Michael D. O'Brien is, you have to demand of him because I know he can write much better stories and, more so considering that Michael D. O'Brien is one of the best novelists of today. My final grade is (3.5/5). PD. I think that the purpose of the story is captured in the final quote of the wonderful novel by the French writer Maxence van der Meersch Bodies and Souls Corps et âmes. Hopefully one day they will translate it into English or it will be republished and Goodreads users and the English-speaking public will be able to know it. PD II. Another novel by Michael D. has recently been published in Spanish. O'Brien published by the publishing house Palabra about the interesting figure of the Prophet Ezekiel "By The Rivers of Babylon" By the Rivers of Babylon: A Novel and, a copy has been reserved, I hope I like it more than this novel that has been commented on. Surely yes, because I love Biblical Stories, or the Sword and Sandals known in Europe as peplums, hence my interest in this novel by Michael D. O'Brien.
June 4, 2023
I’ve had several people recommend Michael O’Brien to me. This was the first book I’ve read by him. This was a very slow book but I still enjoyed it. There was a calm and peace to it that reminded me somewhat of the nature scenes Delia Owen’s created in where the crawdad songs. This is set in Nova Scotia which was very interesting to me. Although it was slow I was never bored and was always curious to see Ethan’s journey, especially his faith journey. I’m looking forward to reading more of O’Brian’s books.
November 30, 2024
really enjoyed this little book. it’s not as fast-paced or intense as other michael o’brien novels, but it is bittersweet and touching.
about 4/5 of the way through, I thought, “OK Mikey, something needs to happen here or you’re gonna lose me,” and then BAM, he turned that engine to turbo and had me reeled in all the way to the end and left me in tears. this is a wonderful portrait of one character, and a book where every detail carries some weight. it’s not a redemption story per se, but I found it to be a moving reflection on reality and human connection/family. I would also recommend this book to anyone who wants to read Michael O’Brien but may find some of his other books “too Catholic” (ha!) or overbearing in their more overtly religious themes. it has given me a lot to ponder!
about 4/5 of the way through, I thought, “OK Mikey, something needs to happen here or you’re gonna lose me,” and then BAM, he turned that engine to turbo and had me reeled in all the way to the end and left me in tears. this is a wonderful portrait of one character, and a book where every detail carries some weight. it’s not a redemption story per se, but I found it to be a moving reflection on reality and human connection/family. I would also recommend this book to anyone who wants to read Michael O’Brien but may find some of his other books “too Catholic” (ha!) or overbearing in their more overtly religious themes. it has given me a lot to ponder!
February 8, 2021
A good novel leaves you feeling like you know its characters. A great novel leaves you feeling like you know yourself better. This is one of the latter, and O'Brien somehow accomplishes this through an understated story with little drama and almost no overtly philosophical content. It's an easy read with beautiful, heartbreaking depth.
March 8, 2021
This book was a little quirky at times but it really drew me in and the ending was extremely powerful. A good uplifting message in these troubled times. It was a really quick read too.
July 28, 2021
I loved this. What a joy to read on the edge of the sea. This book inspired in me a prayer I hope to remember:
The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. My father, my father, I am a child, I am small forever. One star in the entire sky, I love you I love you, I give you everything. Do whatever you want. The tide sinks my chair in, the waves sing his name, he comes close, he kisses my feet.
The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. My father, my father, I am a child, I am small forever. One star in the entire sky, I love you I love you, I give you everything. Do whatever you want. The tide sinks my chair in, the waves sing his name, he comes close, he kisses my feet.
September 16, 2024
A beautiful story of life, loneliness and the paths that cross. I think this book was such a beautiful example of loving your neighbor as yourself and reflecting on life. I would have liked a little more background information on each character to feel a little more closely connected but I don’t think that was the intention of the authors message. ❤️
February 6, 2024
This book was so. good. I so far have loved every Michael D. O’Brien book I’ve read, and this book certainly follows the trend. A very slow paced, gentle, simple book (with a little twist !), and the comfort of faith as an unseeable but ever-present theme. Love!!
November 7, 2025
Solid novel, but I don't think I like this genera terribly much any more. The plot is certainly interesting and well-set, but the people are unrealistic in a slightly saccharine way so I had trouble getting fully invested. Some people will love it
December 22, 2023
Very happy this was the final book of my reading challenge. I thoroughly enjoyed all the themes that were explored. I wouldn’t describe this book written as a page turner but towards the end I really couldn’t put it down. One of the few books that moved me and made me ponder aspects of my life.
May 18, 2024
File this under: “once in a blue moon” books. I’ll be thinking about this for a long time.
September 10, 2024
Does not disappoint. I will keep reading Michael O’Brien.
September 14, 2024
It was a very thoughtful and easy read. I would highly recommend. Just make sure you reflect on Ethan’s life, it’s kind of like yours. Plus everyone needs a little 200 page book now and then.
April 7, 2023
Michael D. O'Brien is a master storyteller living in our day and age, the fact more people don't know his name is rather tragic. The life Ethan lives is one that can at various times be all of ours and each page draws something new not just out of Ethan's heart, but the reader's as well. A terrific book and one I highly recommend.
July 8, 2024
A perfect story.
June 2, 2025
Although well-written and charming, it's also predictable. Hence the 4.
March 21, 2024
This was a simple book, nothing, in my opinion, to write home about, but thus is the way of the hidden life of Ethan.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews