Book Review - Here Burns My Candle

Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs:
It’s been 4 years since Liz Curtis Higgs’s last novel, and she’s made good use of that time studying Scottish history and the Scriptures. And now she offers a retelling of the beloved Old Testament story of Ruth and Naomi set in 18th Century Scotland.

Visit the Lowlands in Here Burns My Candle.

You can watch a trailer about the book here.

Summary:
A mother who cannot face her future. A daughter who cannot escape her past. Lady Elisabeth Kerr is a keeper of secrets. A Highlander by birth and a Lowlander by marriage, she honors the auld ways, even as doubts and fears stir deep within her. Her husband, Lord Donald, has secrets of his own, well hidden from the household, yet whispered among the town gossips.

His mother, the dowager Lady Marjory, hides gold beneath her floor and guilt inside her heart. Though her two abiding passions are maintaining her place in society and coddling her grown sons, Marjory’s many regrets, buried in Greyfriars Churchyard, continue to plague her. One by one the Kerr family secrets begin to surface, even as bonny Prince Charlie and his rebel army ride into Edinburgh in September 1745, intent on capturing the crown. A timeless story of love and betrayal, loss and redemption, flickering against the vivid backdrop of eighteenth-century Scotland, Here Burns My Candle illumines the dark side of human nature, even as hope, the brightest of tapers, lights the way home.

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MY REVIEW:

I actually am familiar with Liz Curtis Higgs because of her children's parable books such as The Pumpkin Patch Parable which I read to my kids every October. There are also Lily, Pine tree, and Sunflower Parable books.

HERE BURNS MY CANDLE was full of facts and insights into Scotland of the mid-1700's. I am fascinated with the customs, the language, the clothes, and the history of this time period.

I was NOT impressed, however, with a part of the storyline - the main character Elisabeth's husband Donald is an adulterer. Not only that, but his affairs are often referred to - and often described (not in sordid detail but enough to disturb me personally). Because of that theme - and the descriptive marriage terms, I would not recommend this book for teenagers or young adults who are not married. That's just me... I'm kindda prude that way! :)

The other thing that bothered me - and it is often a theme in Christian fiction - is that the heroine Elisabeth is such a perfect, demure person - so beautiful but doesn't realize it - so pure in her every motive - the epitome of goodness and kindness - always knowing what to do and what to say - being adored by those who loved her and being resented by the ones who unjustly wish her ill. Perhaps that is why it is FICTION - because the characters are somewhat stereotypical ... but perhaps that is also why you can read and enjoy and not think too deeply as it is all somewhat predictable.

Overall, I enjoyed the book - the plot kept my attention. After I read the discussion questions at the end, I was reminded of the book's parallel to the book of Ruth. That was a neat twist. I learned a lot about history of this time period in Scotland as well.

This book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah.

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