A book review
I know next to nothing about the Scottish uprisings and push for autonomy. One thing I love about historical fiction is that I get a little taste of history without any dry reading! Here Burns My Candle was set in 1745, during the Scots’ rebellion against the English rule.
But this isn’t a book about war and revolution, it is a book set during a revolution. We focus on a small family, the Kerrs, which consist of a mother (Lady Marjory Kerr) and her two sons, Donald & Andrew. Their wives (Elisabeth & Janet respectively) together with Marjory are the focus of most of this book. We follow them through their minefield of secrets as they come to terms with each other and themselves.
The summary given (and any I could give) doesn’t give a real sense of how exciting & engrossing this book really is. It’s a somewhat long book, at 480 pages. It is not a fast moving novel but it kept me interested from start to finish. And one of my favorite things about longer books is how attached to the characters I can become. By the end, I felt like I was losing a friend! I was heartened to find out that there is a sequel, just out, Mine is the Night. I will
certainly be reading that as soon as possible! (Just as a side note, don’t look up Mine is the Night until you’ve read Here Burns My Candle – there are some spoilers (to Here Burns My Candle) in the plot summary of Mine is the Night!)
I liked this book even more than I thought I would – I knew I’d probably enjoy it, because it’s historical fiction. But the character development & fantastic plot really made it better than I’d hoped.
Waterbrook Multnomah kindly provided me a copy of this book for my review. All opinions are my own.
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I always hate coming to the end of a book. I feel like I am in the characters world & also like I am loosing a friend!
sounds like a good one! is it going to be a series, or two books?
Just two books. The second one (Mine is the Night) just came out. I’ll actually get to review that one in the near future, as well!
hey! i actually know nothing about scottish uprisings either! you sold me on this one, anyway, and it’s on my ‘list.’
(surprise for you at my site going up soon)
That does sound good! I love historical fiction for the same reasons you mentioned.
[...] told you I would be back with another review, and here it is! This book, Mine is the Night, is the sequel to Liz Curtis Higgs’ Here Burns My Candle. I would give this book 4 out of 5 [...]