Inspired by a
haunting true story, a gorgeous and atmospheric novel about the mysterious
disappearance of three lighthouse keepers from a remote tower miles from the
Cornish coast—and
about the wives left behind

On New Year’s
Eve, 1972, a boat pulls up to the Maiden Rock lighthouse with relief for the
keepers. But no one greets the boat. When the entrance door, locked from the
inside, is battered down, rescuers find an empty tower. A table is laid for a
meal not eaten. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a storm raging
round the tower, but the skies have been clear all week. And the clocks have
all stopped at 8:45.

What strange fate
befell the doomed men? The heavy sea whispers their names. Black rocks roll
beneath the surface, drowning ghosts. And out of the swell like a finger of
light, the salt-scratched tower stands lonely and magnificent.

Two decades
later, a writer determined to find out the truth about the men’s disappearance
visits the wives who were left behind. Moving between the women’s stories and
the men’s last weeks together in the lighthouse, we see long-held secrets
surface and truths twist into lies as we try to piece together what happened,
why and who to believe.

In her riveting and suspenseful novel, Emma Stonex writes a story about
isolation and obsession, reality and illusion, and what it takes to keep the
light burning when all else is swallowed by darkness.