I particularly loved the influence that the war plays in the book. All the characters are affected by it even though it is over, and it really touched me to see the effects played out in so many lives in such a variety of ways. War is awful. It changes everything except God - and it's changes are pervasive and long-lasting. This theme is close to home for me because I have a younger brother who served in the US armed forces. I was very impressed by the treatment of the after-effects of the war.
There is one case of a newlywed wife arousing her husband.
The cast of characters widens effortlessly throughout the novel, leaving the reader with many characters who are well developed (and loved!) and knowing how their stories intertwine - but at a loss convey the relationships to someone else concisely; they are too complex, but the reader hadn't realized they'd become that way.
Tom the lightkeeper has a mundane task - raising an ensign any time a "man o'war" passes the island.
"He knows keepers who swear under their breath at the obligation, but Tom takes comfort from the orderliness of it. It is a luxury to do something that serves no practical purpose: the luxury of civilization."
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