The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

Please find the discussion questions for our February 2023 pick, The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex below! I’d love to hear what you thought of the book.

• You can the ongoing book club discussions in the Facebook group here.
• You can order your copy of the book here or you can buy all three of our quarter 1 book club picks (at a discounted rate!) here.

QUESTION 1

We are presented with several versions of what happened the night of the men’s disappearance—and we are given reasons to doubt every one of those accounts. What do you think really happened? Do you feel there is a clear answer? Do you think the men’s accounts of what happened on the Maiden were real? Does it matter?

QUESTION 2

Dan Sharp, the writer who interviews the women, is a bestselling author of naval action thrillers. Do you think The Lamplighters is meant to be his book? If so, how does that shift your perspective on the events of the book?

QUESTION 3

The Maiden herself has a real presence in the book, acting as yet another female character. Why do you think Stonex decided to name her “the Maiden”? What relationship does the tower have with the men and the women they left behind? How do you think the Maiden’s role compares with the sea’s role in the book? Do you think they—like Michelle, Helen, and Jenny—were left behind, too, when the men disappeared?

QUESTION 4

Jory remarks that a “fisherman told him once about the sea having two faces. You have to take the both, he said, the good and the bad, and never turn your back on either one of them.” 

His description and the novel itself treat the sea as a character in its own right. What would you say are its two faces? How does each character’s relationship with the sea – whether they turn their backs on it or face it head-on – inform how their stories play out?

QUESTION 5

In her first interview with the writer, Helen evokes the adage that time heals all wounds: “Time gives you a bit of distance where you can look back at whatever’s happened to you and not feel all the feelings you once had.” Did you find this true within the novel? How has time affected each woman’s perspective of the men’s disappearance—and of each other?

QUESTION 6

Bill and Helen have vastly different understandings of their brief association, as does Jenny. In the face of such opposing perspectives, is it possible to work out what really happened? Do you think there can be such a thing as an absolutely true version of any story?

QUESTION 7 

Jenny and Hannah share a tender moment, in which Jenny confesses a secret she’s been hiding from her daughter since Bill’s disappearance. What would you have said if you had been Hannah? Do you think there is such a thing as an unforgiveable act? Does your answer change if it’s a family member who has committed it?QUESTION 8

QUESTION 8

As we learn through the course of the novel, Helen and Arthur experience a great loss, leaving them on separate sides of a chasm in their relationship as well as in their ties to the sea. How does this loss reshape their marriage? How do they create space for each other’s grief and anger?

QUESTION 9 

The Lamplighters was inspired by the real-life unresolved disappearance of Thomas Marshall, James Ducat, and Donald MacArthur. How did you feel about the lack of resolution? Did knowing that the book was inspired by true events impact how you felt about the way things ended?

QUESTION 10

In many ways, this is a story of reconciliation—characters reconciling with their pasts and making peace with one another and their own choices. Did you feel that everyone achieved reconciliation by the end of the book? How do you think the women’s relationships had shifted, if at all? Did you feel satisfied by the ending?